Thomas, Roy 1940-

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THOMAS, Roy 1940-

PERSONAL: Born November 22, 1940, in MO; married; wife's name Jeannie.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—c/o Dark Horse Comics, 10956 South East Main St., Milwaukie, OR 97222.

CAREER: Comic-book author and editor. School teacher in Missouri, c. 1961-65; Alter-Ego (magazine), cofounder, 1961; staff writer for Charlton Publishing Co., 1964, and National Comics, New York, NY, 1965; Marvel Comics, New York, NY, writer, 1965—, assistant editor, c. 1966-72, editor-in-chief, 1972-74.

AWARDS, HONORS: Numerous comic-book awards.

WRITINGS:

GRAPHIC NOVELS

The Dragonlance Saga, three volumes, adapted from the novels Dragons of Autumn Twilight and Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis, illustrated by Tony DeZuniga and others, TSR (Lake Geneva, WI), 1988-89.

(With Gerry Conway) Conan the Barbarian: The Horn of Azoth, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1990.

Amuric (originally published as part of "Epic" series), illustrated by Tim Conrad, Marvel (New York, NY), 1991.

The Ring of the Nibelung (adapted from the opera by Richard Wagner), Warner (New York, NY), 1991.

Conan, the Rogue, illustrated by John Buscema, Marvel Comics (New York, NY), 1991.

The Many Armors of Iron Man, Marvel Comics, 1992.

(With Esteban Maroto) Dracula: Vlad, the Impaler, Topps Comics (Brooklyn, NY), 1993.

(With Randy Lofficier) Superman's Metropolis, illustrated by Ted McKeever, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1996.

Superman: War of the Worlds (adapted from the radio play by Orson Welles, illustrated by Michael Lark, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1999.

(With others) Star Wars: A Long Time Ago . . . (adapted from the film and originally published as a comic-book series, 1977-86), seven volumes, Dark Horse (New York, NY), 2002.

OTHER

(Editor, with Bill Schelly) Alter Ego: The Best of theLegendary Comics Fanzine, Hamster Press (Seattle, WA), 1997.

Also author of comic-book series, including "Dracula Lives!," "Iron Man," "Kings of the Knight," "Cormac Mac Art," and "Ironhand of Almuric." Adapter of operas, films, and books to comic-book format.

ADAPTATIONS: Thomas's "X-Men" comic book characters were adapted for the book Havok: The Secret of Cyclops' Brother by Francine Hughes, Random House (New York, NY), 1994.

SIDELIGHTS: Roy Thomas is one of the top professional comic-book authors in the United States. He made his entry into the world of comic books not as a writer but as a fan, cofounding the first comic-book "fanzine" Alter-Ego, in 1961. Focusing on superhero characters, Alter-Ego provided comic-book aficionados with the history of their favorite series—from "Superman" and "The Incredible Hulk" to "Spiderman" and "Captain America"—as well as providing information on the people behind the page. Thomas has since established a successful career with Marvel Comics, where he wrote the "Avengers," "Conan the Barbarian," and "Star Wars" books. Among Thomas's best-known contributions to the genre are the "Star Wars" comics he adapted from the popular 1970s film, and his popularization of the barbarian superhero Conan, which he adapted from the novels by Robert E. Howard.

Working as a school teacher after graduating from college in the early 1960s, Thomas authored his first stories for the Charlton Publishing Company, and enjoyed it so much that he quit his job and moved to New York City, home of comic-book giants DC and Marvel. He got a job with National Comics but lasted only a few weeks, although his relationship with fellow National author Julius Schwartz would be far more lasting. Moving to Marvel, Thomas learned the art of comic-book writing from writer Stan Lee, and soon showed himself to be a promising author in the superhero genre with his "Avengers" series. A promotion to assistant editor at Marvel started Thomas on his editorial career, and when Lee became publisher of Marvel in 1972 Thomas was promoted to editor-in-chief. Frustrated over his inability to affect any change in the company's direction, he resigned his editorial position two years later but has continued to write and edit for Marvel series since.

Thomas's most prolific contribution to comic books has been as the author of series featuring barbarian super heroes, several of them based on characters created by Richard E. Howard. In his "Ironhand of Almuric" series, based on a story by Howard, muscle-bound, sword-carrying warrior Esau Cairn is tossed into outer space, only to land on a war-weary planet seemingly custom-made for him due to its population of beautiful women who are constantly under attack (and in need of rescue) from ravenous beasts and the evil Yagas. The four-volume "Cormac Mac Art" series finds a Viking raider and his crew encountering all manner of ancient threats as they sail the seas on their longboat, and in "Kings of the Night," also based on characters created by Howard, Thomas returns comic-book fans to ancient Britain as the northern tribes prepare to face the invading Roman legions.

Together with Marvel's stable of writers, artists, inkers, and pencillers, Thomas brought the original Star Wars motion picture to comic-book audiences between 1977 and 1986, and the twenty-volume series was collected by Dark Horse and published as a seven-volume graphic novel series in 2002. Star Wars: A Long Time Ago . . . includes all the original "Star Wars" comics, beginning with the six-issue film adaptation and continuing with original adventures authored by Thomas, Archie Goodwin, and other Marvel writers. Remarking that "some aspects [of the new stories] are pretty silly," a Library Journal reviewer added that the reissued adventures would be a "real treat for teen and nostalgic adult fans."

In addition to creating original characters or working with established super heroes such as the Conan character, Thomas has enjoyed adapting classic stories from music and literature into a comic-book format. In 1991 he joined artist Gil Kane in translating German operatic composer Richard Wagner's classic Ring Cycle into the graphic novel The Ring of the Nibelung, featuring the heroic Siegfried and the beautiful Brunnhilde, and he has also retold Bram Stoker's classic vampire story as Dracula: Vlad the Impaler. Other classic tales reworked by Thomas include Orson Welles's radio broadcast War of the Worlds and several novels in the "Elric" series by author Michael Moorcock. Fritz Lang's classic 1927 silent film Metropolis has also been given the comic-book treatment by Thomas, who punched up the story line by introducing Clark Kent (a.k.a. Superman) into the futuristic plot in Superman's Metropolis. In the online Fanzing David R. Black reviewed Superman's Metropolis and maintained that, although the plot is somewhat predictable, "To Thomas's credit, he seamlessly blends the Superman supporting cast with the characters from the original movie," resulting in what Black dubbed an "engrossing" story.

Recalling his years spent as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, Thomas takes pride in his efforts to adapt the work of authors such as Larry Niven, A. E. van Vogt, and Theodore Sturgeon to the comic-book format. As he told Comic Book Artist interviewer Jon B. Cooke:

"A lot of people . . . were very happy to see their work adapted, because I gave them a new audience that might then go and buy their books, just as a lot of people have told me they came to Conan [the Barbarian] through the comics. I love comics, but I always considered them . . . a lower form of literature than some others, and so, I felt even doing pulp stories and science fiction elevates comics to some extent."