Today in Comics History, September 26: Happy birthday, Jack Schiff!

Born on this day in 1909: writer and editor Jack Schiff, who edited the Batman books, co-created Tommy Tomorrow and the Bat-Signal, and he wrote and edited the famous DC public service ad pages!


"Batman and Robin Stand Up for Sportsmanship!" from DC Comics cover-dated February 1950, script by Jack Schiff, pencils by Win Mortimer, inks by Stan Kaye, letters by Ira Schnapp



Simon and Kirby wrote Jack Schiff (blue vest) into this "DC characters visit the DC offices" story in the first Boy Commandos issue. Also present: editor Whit Ellsworth (green checked suit, as in "where do you get a...") and co-publisher Jack Liebowitz (grey suit).



from "Satan Wears a Swastika" in Boy Commandos #1 (DC, Winter 1942), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Simon
Another meta story: an "Earth-Prime" subplot of an Adam Strange story tells how Julius Schwartz gave editing of DC's future SF stories to Jack Schiff but kept Strange for himself:



from "Two Worlds" in DC Comics Presents: Mystery in Space #1 (one-shot) (September 2004), Script by Grant Morrison, pencils by Jerry Ordway, inks by Mark McKenna, colors by Snocone*, letters by Rob Leigh
*yum

Some swift peeks at Schiff in the excellent Kirby biography graphic novel by Tom Scioli:



from Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics (Ten Speed, July 2020), script and art by Tom Scioli
I also see it suggested on some sites that Jack Schiff co-scripted the 1949 Columbia movie serial Batman and Robin, so I'm going to give the credit that maybe he created superhero cinema's greatest character of all time...GABE!


from the Batman and Robin serial (Columbia, 1949), directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet; riffed by Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett of RiffTrax
Happy birthday, Jack Schiff!