History Creator / RobertKanigher

His first (recorded) comics work was for Fox, writing the original Dan Garrett Comicbook/BlueBeetle, and soon after, the best-selling ''[[Comicbook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel Adventures]]'', before joining All-American Comics, which would eventually become DC. He wrote [[Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica the Justice Society]], and then became the editor and writer of ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1942}}'', a title he would guide from 1946 all the way to '68. He also wrote what's often considered the first story of the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicbooks Silver Age]], introducing [[Comicbook/TheFlash Barry Allen as the new Flash]], created stalwarts like Comicbook/MetalMen, Comicbook/BlackCanary and Batman villain Comicbook/PoisonIvy, and at one point or another, wrote probably ''every single DC hero''.

His greatest success and lasting legacy, though, would come from DC's war comics. In '52, Kanigher (who claimed to be a veteran but according to other information had never served in the military having been rejected and classified 4-F)[[http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/907/]] began editing and/or writing DC's five war comics.[[labelnote:*]] ''GI Combat'', ''Our Army At War'', ''Our Fighting Forces'', ''All-American Men of War'' and ''Star-spangled War Stories''.[[/labelnote]] He introduced perhaps the most memorable war-comics protagonists, [[Comicbook/SgtRock Sgt. Frank Rock and the men of Easy Company]]. Not only that, he also introduced the [[Comicbook/TheHauntedTank Haunted Tank]], GI Robot, Comicbook/TheLosers, Comicbook/EnemyAce, the Creature Commandos and the Comicbook/UnknownSoldier (mostly with frequent collaborators Russ Heath and Creator/JoeKubert on art). He would write Frank Rock and Co. regularly till his retirement. His influence in American war comics is immeasurable, particularly in the transition from gung-ho action stories to more [[WarIsHell downbeat and philosophical]] stories. Even writers primarily coming from the British war comics tradition, like Creator/GarthEnnis, have written his characters and acknowledged his influence.

! Tropes present in Kanigher's work:

* WarIsHell: The central message of his war books (though arguably it often fell into DoNotDoThisCoolThing, because going too far into WarIsHell could get you in trouble, as Creator/ECComics had found out.)

[[caption-width-right:326:Kanigher as drawn by his friend Joe Kubert]]

His greatest success and lasting legacy, though, would come from DC's war comics. In '52, Kanigher (who claimed to be a veteran but according to other information had never served in the military having been rejected and classified 4-F)[[http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/907/]] began editing and/or writing DC's five war comics.[[labelnote:*]] ''GI Combat'', ''Our Army At War'', ''Our Fighting Forces'', ''All-American Men of War'' and ''Star-spangled War Stories''.[[/labelnote]] He introduced perhaps the most memorable war-comics protagonists, [[Comicbook/SgtRock Sgt. Frank Rock and the men of Easy Company]]. Not only that, he also introduced the [[Comicbook/TheHauntedTank Haunted Tank]], GI Robot, Comicbook/TheLosers, Comicbook/EnemyAce, the Creature Commandos and the Comicbook/UnknownSoldier (mostly with frequent collaborators Russ Heath and Joe Kubert on art). He would write Frank Rock and Co. regularly till his retirement. His influence in American war comics is immeasurable, particularly in the transition from gung-ho action stories to more [[WarIsHell downbeat and philosophical]] stories. Even writers primarily coming from the British war comics tradition, like Creator/GarthEnnis, have written his characters and acknowledged his influence.

* TakeThatMe: The last issue of "Creature Commandos" feature Kanigher himself being shot into space alongside the Creature Commandos.

In his writing career, Kanigher was also notorious for [[TakeThatAudience his particular sarcasm answering letter columns]], his [[BreakingTheFourthWall tendency to show up in his own comics]] to [[BitingTheHandHumour mock editorial decisions]] and his [[{{Jerkass}} volatile temper]] (though his collaborators still regard him highly). Oh, and his formula to ''Make Money Writing''? It's [[{{Understatement}} write a lot.]]

His first (recorded) comics work was for Fox, writing the original Dan Garrett Comicbook/BlueBeetle, and soon after, the best-selling ''[[Comicbook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel Adventures]]'', before joining All-American Comics, which would eventually become DC. He wrote [[Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica the Justice Society]], and then became the editor and writer of ''Comicbook/WonderWoman'', a title he would guide from 1946 all the way to '68. He also wrote what's often considered the first story of the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicbooks Silver Age]], introducing [[Comicbook/TheFlash Barry Allen as the new Flash]], created stalwarts like Comicbook/MetalMen, Comicbook/BlackCanary and Batman villain Comicbook/PoisonIvy, and at one point or another, wrote probably ''every single DC hero''.

* TakeThatMe: The last issue of "Creature Commandos" feature the Commandos shooting Kanigher himself into space.

His greatest success and lasting legacy, though, would come from DC's war comics. In '52, Kanigher (who himself had never served in the military having been rejected and classified 4-F)) began editing and/or writing DC's five war comics.[[labelnote:*]] ''GI Combat'', ''Our Army At War'', ''Our Fighting Forces'', ''All-American Men of War'' and ''Star-spangled War Stories''.[[/labelnote]] He introduced perhaps the most memorable war-comics protagonists, [[Comicbook/SgtRock Sgt. Frank Rock and the men of Easy Company]]. Not only that, he also introduced the [[Comicbook/TheHauntedTank Haunted Tank]], GI Robot, Comicbook/TheLosers, Comicbook/EnemyAce, the Creature Commandos and the Comicbook/UnknownSoldier (mostly with frequent collaborators Russ Heath and Joe Kubert on art). He would write Frank Rock and Co. regularly till his retirement. His influence in American war comics is immeasurable, particularly in the transition from gung-ho action stories to more [[WarIsHell downbeat and philosophical]] stories. Even writers primarily coming from the British war comics tradition, like Creator/GarthEnnis, have written his characters and acknowledged his influence.

His greatest success and lasting legacy, though, would come from DC's war comics. In '52, Kanigher (a veteran himself) began editing and/or writing DC's five war comics.[[labelnote:*]] ''GI Combat'', ''Our Army At War'', ''Our Fighting Forces'', ''All-American Men of War'' and ''Star-spangled War Stories''.[[/labelnote]] He introduced perhaps the most memorable war-comics protagonists, [[Comicbook/SgtRock Sgt. Frank Rock and the men of Easy Company]]. Not only that, he also introduced the [[Comicbook/TheHauntedTank Haunted Tank]], GI Robot, Comicbook/TheLosers, Comicbook/EnemyAce, the Creature Commandos and the Comicbook/UnknownSoldier (mostly with frequent collaborators Russ Heath and Joe Kubert on art). He would write Frank Rock and Co. regularly till his retirement. His influence in American war comics is immeasurable, particularly in the transition from gung-ho action stories to more [[WarIsHell downbeat and philosophical]] stories. Even writers primarily coming from the British war comics tradition, like Creator/GarthEnnis, have written his characters and acknowledged his influence.

His first (recorded) comics work was for Fox, writing the original Dan Garrett Comicbook/BlueBeetle, and soon after, the best-selling ''[[Comicbook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel Adventures]]'', before joining All-American Comics, which would eventually become DC. He wrote [[Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica the Justice Society]], and then became the editor and writer of ''Comicbook/WonderWoman'', a title he would guide from 1946 all the way to '68. He also wrote what's often considered the first story of the [[TheSilverAgeOfComicbooks Silver Age]], introducing [[Comicbook/TheFlash Barry Allen as the new Flash]], created stalwarts like Comicbook/MetalMen, Comicbook/BlackCanary and Batman villain Comicbook/PoisonIvy, and at one point or another, wrote probably ''every single DC hero''.

* TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks: Kanigher debuting [[ComicBook/TheFlash Barry Allen]] in ''Showcase'' is usually considered the beginning of the Silver Age. He also wrote many of the kooky, oddball stories that define the era, and created villains like Egg-Fu.

* TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks: Kanigher debuting [[TheFlash Barry Allen]] in ''Showcase'' is usually considered the beginning of the Silver Age. He also wrote many of the kooky, oddball stories that define the era, and created villains like Egg-Fu.

His greatest success and lasting legacy, though, would come from DC's war comics. In '52, Kanigher (a veteran himself) began editing and/or writing DC's five war comics.[[labelnote:*]] ''GI Combat'', ''Our Army At War'', ''Our Fighting Forces'', ''All-American Men of War'' and ''Star-spangled War Stories''.[[/labelnote]] He introduced perhaps the most memorable war-comics protagonists, [[Comicbook/SgtRock Sgt. Frank Rock and the men of Easy Company]]. Not only that, he also introduced the Haunted Tank, GI Robot, Comicbook/TheLosers, Comicbook/EnemyAce, the Creature Commandos and the Comicbook/UnknownSoldier (mostly with frequent collaborators Russ Heath and Joe Kubert on art). He would write Frank Rock and Co. regularly till his retirement. His influence in American war comics is immeasurable, particularly in the transition from gung-ho action stories to more [[WarIsHell downbeat and philosophical]] stories. Even writers primarily coming from the British war comics tradition, like Creator/GarthEnnis, have written his characters and acknowledged his influence.