View source for Elliot S! Maggin

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[[File:Elliot S! Maggin.jpg|frame]]
'''Elliot S! Maggin''' was the lead writer of the ''[[Superman]]'' comics during [[The Bronze Age of Comic Books]]. He also wrote two original Superman novels, ''[[Last Son of Krypton]]'' and ''[[Miracle Monday]]'', as well as the [[Novelisation]] of ''[[Kingdom Come]]''.

One of his earliest and best-known comic book stories is "Must There Be A Superman?", in which the [[Green Lantern|Guardians of the Universe]] take Superman aside and suggest to him that his readiness to help everybody may be doing harm as well as good, by letting people get into a habit of relying on him to do things they could and should do themselves.

The idiosyncratic punctuation of his middle initial has its origins in the days when [[Emphasize Everything|comic books habitually used exclamation marks at the end of ''every'' sentence]]. After typing out an entire script full of exclamation points replacing periods, he did the same to his own name out of force of habit, and it stuck.

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{{examples|Works by Elliot S! Maggin with their own trope pages include:}}
* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]''
* ''[[Last Son of Krypton]]''
* ''[[Miracle Monday]]''
* ''[[Spider-Man: The Animated Series]]''
* ''[[Star Raiders (comics)|Star Raiders]]''
* ''[[X-Men (animation)|X Men]]''

{{creatortropes|Other works by Elliot S! Maggin provide examples of:}}
* [[All There in the Manual]]: In the interests of richer characterization, Maggin invented a lot of background details that never made it into the stories—including some that he'd never have been ''allowed'' to mention explicitly, like what religion each of the main characters was.<ref>Which included such details as Clark Kent and Superman following different religions -- each, according to Maggin, followed the religion of his parents.</ref>
* [[Ambiguously Jewish]]: Maggin's backstory for Lex Luthor had him as a non-observant Jew, but he wasn't allowed to be unambiguous about it.
* [[Did They or Didn't They?]]: Lois Lane and Clark Kent, in "Who Took the Super Out of Superman?"
* [[Distant Finale]]: "Luthor's Gift".
* [[Expy]]: Captain Strong, [[Popeye (comic strip)|a sailor who got incredibly strong after eating a green plant, who had a skinny girlfriend]].
* [[Holding Out for a Hero]]: "Must There Be A Superman?"
* [[Keep Circulating the Tapes]]: In spite of being one of the best writers [[DC Comics]] has ever had, the company's been unusually reticent to collect his ''[[Superman]]'' run, or reprint any of his books. Fortunately, ''[http://superman.nu/theages/Maggin/maggin.php Superman Through The Ages]'' has quite a few issues, as well as most of his books, including [[What Could Have Been|an unpublished chapter]] from his ''[[Kingdom Come]]'' book.
* [[Noble Demon]]: Lex Luthor.

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[[Category:Comic Book Creators]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Elliot S! Maggin]]