Background
Born David Levine, David Vern Reed grew up to become a writer, with his work appearing under several Anglicized pseudonyms, amongst them David Vern, Alexander Blade, Craig Ellis, Clyde Woodruff and Peter Horn.
Born David Levine, David Vern Reed grew up to become a writer, with his work appearing under several Anglicized pseudonyms, amongst them David Vern, Alexander Blade, Craig Ellis, Clyde Woodruff and Peter Horn.
In the 1940s, he wrote such science fiction stories as the novella "The Metal Monster Murders" in Mammoth Detective volunteer 3, #4 (November 1944). lieutenant was at District of Columbia where Levine — who like all Batman writers and artists of this time ghosted under Bob Kane"s byline — would eventually become best known to Batman fans as "David V. Reed." He and artist Lew Schwartz created the villain Deadshot in Batman #59 (July 1950). Reed"s first story published by District of Columbia, "Ride, Bat-Hombre, Ride", (Batman #56 Volume(s) 1) was the start of his first tenure chronicling Batman"s adventures.
Reed wrote such key stories as "The Birth of Batplane II" in Batman #61 (November 1950), "The Joker"s Millions" and "Two-Face Strikes Again", the latter two featuring the return of the original villains introduced by Kane and writer Bill Finger.
Another story from this period, "The Joker"s Utility Belt", once mistakenly believed to have been written by Finger, was eventually adapted for Cesar Romero"s first appearance as the Joker on the 1960s Batman television series, broadcast as the episodes "The Joker Is Wild" and "Batman is Riled". Besides Batman, Vern Reed wrote for Superman, World"s Finest and several of District of Columbia"s non-superhero books
He later left comics to return to prose fiction, writing such science fiction novels as Murder in Space (Green Dragon Books / Ideal Publishing, 1945), and stories for such magazines as Amazing Stories, Fantastic Adventures and Astounding Science Fiction. He also wrote for glossy magazines,including Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Collier"s, Argosy, and Mademoiselle.
Reed returned to comic books in the 1970s and to Batman in 1975.
Initially ignoring the character"s large rogues gallery, he engaged the superhero in a series of bizarre mysteries such as "The Daily Death of Terry Tremayne" and "The Underworld Olympics "76!" However, supervillains would later appear in tales like "Where Were You On The Night Batman Was Killed?". Reed"s version would greet his foes with a dry quip, to which some readers objected as out of character for a "dark knight". Other fans acknowledged that deadpan humor had been a part of the character"s personality since his earliest appearances.
Reed remained on Batman for three years before leaving comics again.
He died in 1989.