Dorothy Woolfolk
Encyclopedia
Dorothy A. Woolfolk née Dorothy Roubicek (October 11, 1913 - November 27, 2000) was a pioneering woman in the American
comic book
industry. The first female editor
at DC Comics
, one of the two largest companies in the field, she is credited with helping to create the fictional metal kryptonite
in the Superman
mythos.
high school graduate who never attended college but won prizes on a 1950s television
game show
, was an editor at DC Comics
during the 1940s period historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books
, She served from 1942 to 1944 as an editor at All-American Publications
, one of the three companies that would merge to form the present-day DC, then spent the next two years at Timely Comics
, the 1940s predecessor to Marvel Comics
, and in 1948 was an editor at EC Comics
. She met her husband, novelist William Woolfolk, during her stint at DC, when she rejected a script he had submitted for a Superman
comic book.
Woolfolk told the Florida
newspaper Today in August 1993 that she had found Superman's invulnerability dull, and that DC's flagship hero might be more interesting with an Achilles' heel
such as adverse reactions to a fragment of his home planet. This gave rise to the famous fictional metal kryptonite
.
, the latter of whom would become an author, Woolfolk briefly returned to comics in the 1970s, editing Wonder Woman
, Supergirl
, Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane
, Young Romance, and other DC superhero
and romance
titles from 1971 to 1974.
She also occasionally scripted comics, including an unknown number of Wonder Woman stories in the 1940s — making Woolfolk the first female writer of that series, and, with Ruth Atkinson
, among comic books' first female writers. Woolfolk also wrote for the science fiction
magazine Orbit during the 1950s, and in the 1970s and early 1980s was the author of the 10-book Scholastic Press
young-adult novel series about teen detective Donna Rockford. Woolfolk's daughter, Donna Woolfolk Cross
, is also an author; her work includes the historical novel Pope Joan (Ballantine
, 1996).
Comics artist Alan Kupperberg
, who worked with her at DC Comics
in the 1970s, said in 2001, "Dorothy Woolfolk really was something... Tallulah Bankhead
, the Auntie Mame
of comics. I thought her books looked good and she got them out on time. People like Liz Safian got breaks through Dorothy. Not to mention Sal Amendola
, Howard Chaykin
, Mary Skrenes
, and Alan Weiss
." Her assistant editor at DC, Ethan Mordden
, would go on to become a notable LBGT author.
She was nominated every year from 2001-2004 for induction into the Women Cartoonists Hall of Fame. Woolfolk, who lived on the Upper West Side
of Manhattan
while working in comics and as an author, moved to Norfolk
, Virginia
, in 1996. Two years later, she began to reside at the St. Francis Nursing Center in Newport News, Virginia
, where she died in 2000.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
industry. The first female editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
at DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, one of the two largest companies in the field, she is credited with helping to create the fictional metal kryptonite
Kryptonite
Kryptonite is a fictional material from the Superman mythos —the ore form of a radioactive element from Superman's home planet of Krypton. It is famous for being the ultimate physical weakness of Superman, and the word kryptonite has since become synonymous with an Achilles' heel —the one weakness...
in the Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
mythos.
Early life and career
Dorothy Woolfolk, a New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
high school graduate who never attended college but won prizes on a 1950s television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
, was an editor at DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
during the 1940s period historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
, She served from 1942 to 1944 as an editor at All-American Publications
All-American Publications
All-American Publications is one of three American comic book companies that combined to form the modern-day DC Comics, one of the world's two largest comics publishers...
, one of the three companies that would merge to form the present-day DC, then spent the next two years at Timely Comics
Timely Comics
Timely Comics, an imprint of Timely Publications, was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics....
, the 1940s predecessor to Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, and in 1948 was an editor at EC Comics
EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...
. She met her husband, novelist William Woolfolk, during her stint at DC, when she rejected a script he had submitted for a Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
comic book.
Woolfolk told the Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
newspaper Today in August 1993 that she had found Superman's invulnerability dull, and that DC's flagship hero might be more interesting with an Achilles' heel
Achilles' heel
An Achilles’ heel is a deadly weakness in spite of overall strength, that can actually or potentially lead to downfall. While the mythological origin refers to a physical vulnerability, metaphorical references to other attributes or qualities that can lead to downfall are common.- Origin :In Greek...
such as adverse reactions to a fragment of his home planet. This gave rise to the famous fictional metal kryptonite
Kryptonite
Kryptonite is a fictional material from the Superman mythos —the ore form of a radioactive element from Superman's home planet of Krypton. It is famous for being the ultimate physical weakness of Superman, and the word kryptonite has since become synonymous with an Achilles' heel —the one weakness...
.
DC Comics editor
After raising children Donald and DonnaDonna Woolfolk Cross
Donna Woolfolk Cross is an American writer and the author of the novel Pope Joan, about a supposed female Catholic Pope from 855 to 858...
, the latter of whom would become an author, Woolfolk briefly returned to comics in the 1970s, editing Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
, Supergirl
Supergirl
Supergirl is a female counterpart to the DC Comics Superman. As his cousin, she shares his super powers and vulnerability to Kryptonite. She was created by writer Otto Binder and designed by artist Al Plastino in 1959. She first appeared in the Action Comics comic book series and later branched out...
, Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane
Lois Lane
Lois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
, Young Romance, and other DC superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
and romance
Romance comics
Romance comics is a comics genre depicting romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published through the first three decades of the Cold War...
titles from 1971 to 1974.
She also occasionally scripted comics, including an unknown number of Wonder Woman stories in the 1940s — making Woolfolk the first female writer of that series, and, with Ruth Atkinson
Ruth Atkinson
Ruth Atkinson Ford née Ruth Atkinson and a.k.a. R. Atkinson Ruth Atkinson Ford née Ruth Atkinson and a.k.a. R. Atkinson Ruth Atkinson Ford née Ruth Atkinson and a.k.a. R. Atkinson (June 2, 1918 - June 1, 1997 was an American cartoonist and pioneering female comic book artist who helped create the...
, among comic books' first female writers. Woolfolk also wrote for the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
magazine Orbit during the 1950s, and in the 1970s and early 1980s was the author of the 10-book Scholastic Press
Scholastic Press
Scholastic is a global book publishing company known for publishing educational materials for schools, teachers, and parents, and selling and distributing them by mail order and via book clubs and book fairs. It also has the exclusive United States' publishing rights to the Harry Potter book...
young-adult novel series about teen detective Donna Rockford. Woolfolk's daughter, Donna Woolfolk Cross
Donna Woolfolk Cross
Donna Woolfolk Cross is an American writer and the author of the novel Pope Joan, about a supposed female Catholic Pope from 855 to 858...
, is also an author; her work includes the historical novel Pope Joan (Ballantine
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...
, 1996).
Comics artist Alan Kupperberg
Alan Kupperberg
Alan Kupperberg is an American comic artist known for working in both comic books and newspaper strips.-Career:Kupperberg began writing and drawing for Marvel Comics in 1974, mostly doing fill-ins and one-shots...
, who worked with her at DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
in the 1970s, said in 2001, "Dorothy Woolfolk really was something... Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an award-winning American actress of the stage and screen, talk-show host, and bonne vivante...
, the Auntie Mame
Auntie Mame
Auntie Mame is a 1955 novel by Patrick Dennis that chronicles the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his deceased father's eccentric sister, Mame Dennis. The book is a work of fiction inspired by the author's eccentric aunt, Marion Tanner, whose life and outlook in many...
of comics. I thought her books looked good and she got them out on time. People like Liz Safian got breaks through Dorothy. Not to mention Sal Amendola
Sal Amendola
Sal Amendola is an Italian-American comic book artist and teacher primarily known for his association with DC Comics.-Career:...
, Howard Chaykin
Howard Chaykin
Howard Victor Chaykin is an American comic book writer and artist famous for his innovative storytelling and sometimes controversial material...
, Mary Skrenes
Mary Skrenes
Mary Skrenes is a comic book writer and screenwriter. She may be best known as co-creator of Omega the Unknown for Marvel Comics, although she worked on other Marvel characters such as the Defenders and Guardians of the Galaxy...
, and Alan Weiss
Alan Weiss (comics)
Alan Weiss is an American comic book artist and writer known for his work on Warlock, Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, Sub-Mariner and Spider-Man...
." Her assistant editor at DC, Ethan Mordden
Ethan Mordden
Ethan Mordden is an American author.-Biography:Mordden was raised in Pennsylvania, in Venice, Italy, and on Long Island, and is a graduate of Friends Academy in Locust Valley, New York, and the University of Pennsylvania...
, would go on to become a notable LBGT author.
She was nominated every year from 2001-2004 for induction into the Women Cartoonists Hall of Fame. Woolfolk, who lived on the Upper West Side
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
while working in comics and as an author, moved to Norfolk
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, in 1996. Two years later, she began to reside at the St. Francis Nursing Center in Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
, where she died in 2000.
Books
Donna Rockford Mystery series- The Girl Cried Murder (original title: "Murder, My Dear!"; Scholastic, 1974) 1983 reissue: ISBN 978-0-5900-5810-0
- Murder in Washington and the Body on the Beach — Donna Rockford Double Mystery Series (Scholastic, 1982) ISBN 0-590-32000-9
- Mother Where Are You? (Scholastic, 1982) ISBN 0-590-32519-1
- Who Killed Daddy? (Scholastic, 1982) ISBN 0-590-32520-5
- Death of a Dancer (Scholastic, 1982) ISBN 0-590-30955-2
- Murder by Moonlight (Scholastic, 1983) ISBN 978-0-5903-2438-0
- How to Look Like a Winner (Scholastic, 1983) ISBN 0-590-31332-0
- Abbey Is Missing (Scholastic, 1983) ISBN 0-590-32864-6
- Mystery in Studio 13 (Scholastic, 1984) ISBN 0-590-32865-4