Science fiction author and fan, and DC legend Allan Asherman passed away over the weekend, at age 76, after injuries sustained in a fall. Asherman is a name little known to the public, but he had a distinguished career as a writer, historian and archivist – most notably as the librarian for DC Comics for many years. He also wrote many articles for THE AMAZING WORLD OF DC COMICS, The Monster Times, and oddly enough, the comics adaptation of the Steven Spielberg movie 1941.
As librarian, Allan was in charge of DC’s irreplaceable collection of bound volumes containing complete runs of their comic books, a resource that editors and researchers often called upon – and one fiercely guarded by Alan with a passion that made Cerberus look like a friendly puppy. Several memorials are out there including an obituary by Bob Greenbergerthat covers Allan’s career as a SF fan and writer – Star Trek foremost. Paul Levitz recalls his early days as an assistant editor at DC:
Allan was a good soul, a historian of much of what had gone on in comics and science fiction, a teacher, a writer, and a part of DC for many years in many guises. His first tour of duty was an assistant editor, working with Joe Kubert, Bob Kanigher and Joe Simon, and that was his role in Woodchuck days, cut short in one of the mid-70s layoffs that swept through. He returned again and again (I lost track along the way, but I think he may have been the ‘most hired’ person at DC), including tours in the department that stored our film negatives for reprinting and international use, and a very long and vital tour as the company librarian, ending only when the company moved to Burbank. In all of these roles, he was one of the people who would be turned to with an “Allan might know…” question and often he did.
Allan had many jobs at DC (including assistant editor, working with Denny O’Neil, Joe Kubert, Bob Kanigher, and Joe Simon; and as production assistant, sourcing film for foreign publishers). But our paths crossed when he was the company’s librarian, a job he held for decades. Allan was the repository of incalculable knowledge, and took his role as gatekeeper of the DC archives very seriously. If you wanted to fact check or research a question about an issue or a series or an author or artist, Allan was your first stop. And, if you were lucky, you were invited into the inner sanctum of the library, crossing over to the other side of the counter where the stacks of back issues were shelved—row after row of complete sets of comics dating to 1935, starting with NEW FUN no. 1 (the first DC comic of all-new material) and continuing to the present. Allan’s heart was clearly in DC’s past, but despite dozens of new comics being published week after week across all imprints, he somehow kept up.
As far as I’m concerned, Allan’s greatest achievement came in 2000, when he rescued from DC’s archives and wrote the liner notes for the soundtrack to the Superman TV show. He was also essential in the the release of SUPERMAN ON RADIO for the Smithsonian in 1997, which involved the original transcription discs from the 1940s starring Bud Collyer to be remastered and archived in the Library of Congress.
So much of our history was preserved and deliberated over by Allan. Michael Uslan, writer and Batman producer, wrote earlier today, “Allan’s passing is akin to the burning of the library at Alexandria.” That is an apt description, as there are fewer and fewer historians left in our industry who come close to Allan as a resource.
They say that one who dies on the eve of the High Holidays is a “tzaddik,” a righteous person. Allan was most definitely righteous, in the best sense of the word.
When I worked at DC I would occasionally make my way to the library for some research materials for some potential reboot or reintroduction…I’ve never been very good at returning library books, and Allan would frequently have to give me a call reminding me that books could only be borrowed for a few days at a time. As someone who respected having a complete set, I respected Allan and his knowledge a lot. DC was lucky to have him.
Allan leaves behind his wife, Arlene Lo, who was DC’s proofreaders for much of that time. My heart goes out to her for her loss.
Michael Uslan’s comment that “Allan’s passing is akin to the burning of the library at Alexandria,” is far too on the nose, considering that DC’s library has been dismantled and put into storage (one hopes). And so another piece of the history of comics has passed from this world.
Allan will be missed by many. I knew Allan first in my late teens in the late 1960’s during my SF/comic days in NYC and had the greatest respect for him as a person as well as SF/comic fan even before he moved on to work in the field. He was skinny and intellectual as a young man and unfortunately was picked on by people who never really knew him, including Jim Steranko.
Later, in the 1980s when I returned to NYC, Allan actually rented my basement apartment for some time before he moved in with Arlene. Sadly by the mid-90s we lost touch with each other.
Allan will be missed by many. I knew Allan first in my late teens in the late 1960’s during my SF/comic days in NYC and had the greatest respect for him as a person as well as SF/comic fan even before he moved on to work in the field. He was skinny and intellectual as a young man and unfortunately was picked on by people who never really knew him, including Jim Steranko.
Later, in the 1980s when I returned to NYC, Allan actually rented my basement apartment for some time before he moved in with Arlene. Sadly by the mid-90s we lost touch with each other.
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