Alan Brennert

Alan Brennert's earliest television work was in 1978 when he wrote several scripts for the Wonder Woman series. He was story editor for the NBC series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and wrote seven scripts for that series. He won an Emmy Award as a producer and writer for L.A. Law in 1991. For fans of science fiction and fantasy, he might be best known as a writer for the revival series The Twilight Zone{{cite book|last = Clute|first = John|author-link = John Clute|chapter= Brennert, Alan|title = The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction|publisher = Orbit Books|year = 2011|location= London, United Kingdom|chapter-url = http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/brennert_alan|isbn = 978-1-85723-897-6}} and The Outer Limits. One of his best regarded episodes was for The Twilight Zone, "Her Pilgrim Soul", which became a play. Brennert said that writing "Her Pilgrim Soul" was a deeply cathartic experience which allowed him to get past the death of a woman he had loved.{{cite video |title=The Twilight Zone: The Complete '80s Series: Audio Commentary - "Her Pilgrim Soul" |medium=DVD |publisher=CBS DVD |people=Brennert, Alan; Crocker, James; Craven, Wes |date=2020}} He also wrote two The Twilight Zone teleplays based on stories by Harlan Ellison, who later said that Brennert was the only writer he would ever allow to adapt his works.{{cite video |title=The Twilight Zone: The Complete '80s Series: Audio Commentary - "Shatterday" |medium=DVD |publisher=CBS DVD |people=Ellison, Harlan |date=2020}} Since 2001 Brennert has written episodes of the television series Stargate Atlantis and Star Trek: Enterprise under the name of Michael Bryant.

Brennert also writes short stories and novels. His first story, "City of Masques", was published in 1973. In 1975 he was nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction.{{cite web |url= http://www.thehugoawards.org/campbell-history/|title= Campbell Award|year= 2011|publisher= World Science Fiction Society|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130605121753/http://www.thehugoawards.org/campbell-history/|archive-date= June 5, 2013|url-status= live|access-date= April 21, 2012}} He won a Nebula Award for Best Short Story in 1991 and had stories in Gardner Dozois's Year's Best volumes. His 2003 book Moloka'i is a historical novel that focuses on life in Honolulu and the leper colony at Kalaupapa in Hawaii made famous by Father Damien, Mother Marianne Cope, and Lawrence M. Judd, historical people who appear in the novel set in the early 1900s. It received mostly favorable reviews. The decision to write Moloka'i came after a four-hour miniseries Brennert wrote for NBC was not picked up. According to his website, Brennert wanted to "write something that people would get to see."{{cite web |url= http://www.alanbrennert.com/2013_Pg.Bio.html|title= Biography|first= Alan|last= Brennert|year= 2013 |publisher= AlanBrennert.com|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130724164806/http://alanbrennert.com/2013_Pg.Bio.html|archive-date= July 24, 2013|url-status= live}} In 2009, Brennert returned to Hawai'i in Honolulu,{{cite web|url= http://us.macmillan.com/honolulu/AlanBrennert|title= Honolulu|year= 2009|location= London, United Kingdom|publisher= Macmillan Publishers|access-date= September 22, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120924130853/http://us.macmillan.com/honolulu/AlanBrennert|archive-date= September 24, 2012|url-status= dead}} a historical novel centering on a Korean picture bride in the early 1900s. The story told in Honolulu came out of Brennert's research from Moloka'i.

Brennert's first work in the comics industry was conducting interviews with A. E. van Vogt, Larry Niven, and Theodore Sturgeon which were published in Marvel Comics' Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction comics magazine.{{gcdb|type=credit|search= Alan+Brennert|title= Alan Brennert}} His first comics story was plotting DC Comics' Wonder Woman #231 (May 1977) and #232 (June 1977) which were scripted by Martin Pasko. Brennert and Pasko collaborated again on Star Trek #12 (March 1981) for Marvel.{{cite journal|last= Kelly|first= Rob|title= The Alan Brennert Interview|journal= Back Issue!|issue= 84|page= 53|publisher= TwoMorrows Publishing|date= October 2015|location= Raleigh, North Carolina}} That same month, he and artist Dick Giordano crafted the lead Batman story for Detective Comics #500.{{cite book|last=Manning|first= Matthew K.|editor-last=Dolan|editor-first=Hannah|chapter= 1980s|title = DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle|publisher=Dorling Kindersley |year=2010|location= London, United Kingdom |isbn= 978-0-7566-6742-9 |page= 193 |quote = In a dimension-spanning story by writer Alan Brennert and fan-favorite artist Dick Giordano, Batman traveled to an alternate Earth to save the parents of a young Bruce Wayne.}}{{cite journal|last= Greenberger|first= Robert|author-link= Robert Greenberger|title= Memories of Detective Comics #500|journal= Back Issue!|issue= 69|pages= 54–57|publisher= TwoMorrows Publishing|date= December 2013|location= Raleigh, North Carolina}} This story, "To Kill a Legend", was included in DC's "Year's Best Comics Stories" of 1981 collection.{{Gcdb issue|id= 36238/#213753|title= The Best of DC #23 (April 1982)}} Brennert then wrote four issues of The Brave and the Bold featuring Batman team-ups with the Creeper, the Hawk and Dove,Kelly pp. 54-58 the Robin of Earth Two,{{cite book|last= Manning|first= Matthew K.|editor-last=Dougall|editor-first=Alastair|chapter= 1980s|title= Batman: A Visual History|publisher= Dorling Kindersley|year= 2014|location= London, United Kingdom|page= 140|isbn= 978-1465424563|quote= Alan Brennert and artist Jim Aparo pulled out all the stops to please fans of the Golden Age in this memorable tale.}}{{cite web |url= http://sequart.org/magazine/9294/on-alan-brennert-and-jim-aparos-batman-story-interlude-on-earth-two/|title= On Alan Brennert and Jim Aparo's Batman story, 'Interlude on Earth-Two'|first= Colin|last= Smith|date= January 10, 2012|publisher= Sequart Organization|location= Edwardsville, Illinois|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150322195106/http://sequart.org/magazine/9294/on-alan-brennert-and-jim-aparos-batman-story-interlude-on-earth-two/|archive-date= March 22, 2015|url-status= live}} and the Catwoman.Manning "1980s" in Dougall, p. 144: "The romance between the Earth-Two Batman and Catwoman was examined in this tale by writer Alan Brennert and penciller Joe Staton." Editor Dennis O'Neil had him write Daredevil #192 (March 1983), which followed Frank Miller's run on that title.{{cite web |url= http://www.manwithoutfear.com/daredevil-interviews/Alan-Brennert|title= Interview With Alan Brennert|first= Kuljit|last= Mithra|date= December 2014|publisher= Manwithoutfear.com|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150910025305/http://www.manwithoutfear.com/daredevil-interviews/Alan-Brennert|archive-date= September 10, 2015|url-status= live}} Due to his television schedule, Brennert did not have the time to write any additional comic books for several years.Kelly pp. 58-59 A Deadman story in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989) was his next work in the comics industry, followed by a Black Canary tale in Secret Origins vol. 2 #50 (Aug. 1990).Kelly pp. 59-61 He wrote Batman: Holy Terror, the first DC comic book to feature the Elseworlds logo.Manning "1990s" in Dougall, p. 193: Batman: Holy Terror became the first Elseworlds special. This tale by writer Alan Brennert and artist Norm Breyfogle featured a Gotham City ruled by the church and Batman as a vigilante man of the cloth." His final comics story was a "Batman Black and White" backup feature in Batman: Gotham Knights #10 (Dec. 2000) drawn by José Luis García-López.Kelly pp. 63-64

In 2014, Brennert "requested equity in the [Barbara Kean Gordon] character and compensation for her use" in the Gotham television series due to having introduced the character in Detective Comics #500.{{cite web|url=http://comicsalliance.com/batman-writer-alan-brennert-gotham-and-the-truth-about-dc-comics-media-royalties/ |title=Batman Writer Alan Brennert, Gotham, And The Truth About DC Comics Media Royalties |first=Janelle |last=Asselin |date=July 9, 2014 |publisher=ComicsAlliance |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907193321/http://comicsalliance.com/batman-writer-alan-brennert-gotham-and-the-truth-about-dc-comics-media-royalties/|archive-date=September 7, 2015|url-status=dead }} DC Comics and parent company Warner Bros. denied the request claiming that the character was "derivative" of an already existing DC character.{{cite web |url= http://www.digitalspy.com/comics/s243/gotham/news/a583008/veteran-batman-writer-alan-brennert-denied-gotham-royalties.html#~pp9W3iR3bTAMz3|title= Veteran Batman writer Alan Brennert denied Gotham royalties|first= Hugh|last= Armitage|date= July 9, 2014|publisher= Digital Spy|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150924005809/http://www.digitalspy.com/comics/s243/gotham/news/a583008/veteran-batman-writer-alan-brennert-denied-gotham-royalties.html#~ppacmTk1Q0YvTi|archive-date= September 24, 2015|url-status= live}}

Tales of the Batman: Alan Brennert, a hardcover collection of Brennert's work for DC Comics, was published in 2016.{{cite book|last= Brennert|first= Alan|title= Tales of the Batman: Alan Brennert|publisher= DC Comics|date= 2016|location= Burbank, California|pages= 208|isbn= 978-1401263492}} He has named "The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne" from The Brave and the Bold #197 (April 1983) as his personal favorite of his DC stories.{{cite web|url=http://www.cbr.com/alan-brennert-recalls-the-origins-of-his-fan-favorite-tales-of-the-batman/ |title=Alan Brennert Recalls the Origins of His Fan-Favorite Tales of the Batman |first=Alex |last=Dueben |date=June 28, 2016 |publisher=Comic Book Resources |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028023619/https://www.cbr.com/alan-brennert-recalls-the-origins-of-his-fan-favorite-tales-of-the-batman/ |archive-date=October 28, 2017 |url-status=live |quote=My personal favorite, by a whisker (pun intended), is the Batman/Catwoman story 'The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne'. }}

• City of Masques (1978) {{ISBN|978-0872164567}}
• Kindred Spirits (1984) {{ISBN|978-0312872625}}
• Time and Chance (1990) {{ISBN|978-0312931926}}
• Her Pilgrim Soul: And Other Stories (1990) {{ISBN|978-0312851019}}
• Moloka'i (2001) {{ISBN|978-1435291065}}
• Honolulu (2009) {{ISBN|978-0312360405}}
• Palisades Park (2013) {{ISBN|978-0312643720}}
• Daughter of Moloka'i (2019) {{ISBN|9781250137661}}

• Batman: Gotham Knights #10 ("Batman Black and White") (2000)
• Batman: Holy Terror (Elseworlds) (1991)
• The Brave and the Bold #178, 181–182, 197 (1981–1983)
• Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (Deadman) (1989)
• Detective Comics #500, 600 (1981–1989)
• Secret Origins vol. 2 #50 (Black Canary) (1990)
• Wonder Woman #231–232 (1977)

• Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction #4–5, Special #1 (text articles) (1975–1976)
• Star Trek #12 (1981)
• Daredevil #192 (1983)
• Sub-Mariner: Marvels Snapshot #1 (2020)

• Wonder Woman (1978–1979)
• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979–1980)
• The Mississippi (1984)
• Simon & Simon (1983–1985)
• The Twilight Zone (1985–1989)
• China Beach (1989)
• L.A. Law (1991–1992)
• The Outer Limits (1995–1997, 2001)
• The Lake (1998)
• Odyssey 5 (2002)
• Stargate Atlantis (2005)

{{reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm?author_number=992 Biography from Bookbrowse]
• {{comicbookdb|type=creator|id=2126|title=Alan Brennert}}
• {{IMDb name|id=0107524|name=Alan Brennert}}
• {{isfdb name|id=Alan_Brennert|name=Alan Brennert}}
• [http://www.alanbrennert.com/index.html Official Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323000146/http://www.alanbrennert.com/index.html |date=March 23, 2022 }}

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Category:1954 births

Category:20th-century American novelists

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