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} }) </script> </div> </form> </fieldset> <article class="entryArticle content STeditorial"> <header class="entryHeader icon-author"> <h1 class="entryTitle">Reed, David V </h1> </header><p class='tagLine'>Entry updated 3 March 2023. Tagged: Author, Editor.</p><div class="browsingBtns"> <span> <input class="button PNI previous" type="button" onclick="window.location.href='/next.php?id=p&entry=reed_david_v'" value="Prev" /> </span> <span> <input class="button PNI next" type="button" onclick="window.location.href='/next.php?&entry=reed_david_v'" value="Next" /> </span> <span> <input class="button PNI incoming" type="button" onclick="window.location.href='/incoming.php?entry=reed_david_v'" value="About This Entry" title="What links to the entry; contributor initials explained; how to cite; other information" /> </span> <span><input class="button PNI" type="button" value="Checklist" onclick="window.location.hash='chklst'" ></span> <span><input class="button PNI" type="button" value="Alpha" onclick="window.location.href='/chron.php?id=reed_david_v&abc'" ></span> <span><input class="button PNI" type="button" value="Chron" onclick="window.location.href='/chron.php?id=reed_david_v'" ></span> <span style="cursor: pointer;" onclick="window.open('/gallery.php?link=reed_david_v');"> <img alt="Icon made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com" style="margin: 0; position: relative; top:-2px;" src="/images/icon-gal.gif"></img></span> </div><p style='float:right; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:10px; position: relative; top: 3px;'> <a href='/gallery.php?id=ReedDV-DrVarsag.jpg' target='_blank'> <img src='https://x.sf-encyclopedia.com/gal/thumbs/ReedDV-DrVarsag.jpg' alt='pic'></a></p> <p>Pseudonym – in full, David Vern Reed – used for almost all his fiction by US editor, <a href="/entry/comics">Comics</a> writer and author David Vern, born David Levine (1914-1994) and also known as David Vern Levine. He wrote mostly for Ray <a href="/entry/palmer_david">Palmer</a>'s magazines (for which he also worked in editorial capacities between 1940 and 1943), starting with "Where is Roger Davis?" in <a href="/entry/amazing">Amazing</a> for May 1939. Don <a href="/entry/wilcox_don">Wilcox</a> wrote the first story, and Reed contributed a <a href="/entry/sequels_by_other_hands">Sequel by Other Hands</a>, to the two-part <i>The Whispering Gorilla</i> (May 1940, February 1943 <a href="/entry/fantastic_adventures">Fantastic Adventures</a> as "The Whispering Gorilla" and "Return of the Whispering Gorilla"; fixup <b>1950</b>), about an ape with a man's brain (see <a href="/entry/apes_as_human">Apes as Human</a>); the book was published as by Reed alone. <i>Murder in Space: A Complete Science Fiction Novel</i> (May 1944 <a href="/entry/amazing">Amazing</a>; <b>1954</b>) unconvincingly attempts to relocate a murder mystery with a <a href="/entry/westerns">Western</a> cowboy flavour into space; references to the <a href="/entry/asteroids">Asteroids</a> are riddled with <a href="/entry/scientific_errors">Scientific Errors</a>, including the remarkable understatement "The main asteroid belt is over six million miles long ..." Reed was probably the first writer to use the <a href="/entry/house_names">House Name</a> Alexander <a href="/entry/blade_alexander">Blade</a>, which began as a personal pseudonym; among his other names (some apparently not identified) he used also the house names Craig <a href="/entry/ellis_craig">Ellis</a> and Peter <a href="/entry/horn_peter">Horn</a> and wrote as David Vern, plus one story as Clyde Woodruff. He is best known for his work as a comics writer for <a href="/entry/dc_comics">DC Comics</a>, intermittently between 1950 and the late 1970s, including excellent scripts for <a href="/entry/batman">Batman</a>. [JC/PN/BA]</p> <h3 id="chklst">David Vern</h3> <p><b>born</b> New York: 13 December 1914</p> <p><b>died</b> New York: 11 August 1994</p> <p><b>works</b></p> <p><input type="button" value="Alphabetical" class="button PNI" onclick="window.location.href='/chron.php?id=reed_david_v&abc'"> <input type="button" value="Chronological" class="button PNI" onclick="window.location.href='/chron.php?id=reed_david_v'"></p> <ul class="x"> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=The+Whispering+Gorilla&field-author=Reed+David+V" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">The Whispering Gorilla</a></em> (London: World Distributors (Manchester) Ltd, <b>1950</b>) with Don <a href="/entry/wilcox_don">Wilcox</a> [fixup: first appeared May 1940 <a href="/entry/fantastic_adventures">Fantastic Adventures</a> as "The Whispering Gorilla" by Wilcox and February 1943 <a href="/entry/fantastic_adventures">Fantastic Adventures</a> as "Return of the Whispering Gorilla" by Reed: pb/R G <a href="/entry/jones_r_g">Jones</a>] <ul class="x"> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=The+Whispering+Gorilla/Return+of+the+Whispering&field-author=Reed+David+V" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">The Whispering Gorilla/Return of the Whispering Gorilla</a></em> (New York: Gryphon Books, <b>1998</b>) [anth: comprising the original form of the two separate stories above: pb/Ron <a href="/entry/turner_ron">Turner</a>]</li> </ul></li> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=The+Thing+that+Made+Love&field-author=Reed+David+V" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">The Thing that Made Love</a></em> (New York: Universal, <b>1951</b>) [first appeared November 1944 <em>Mammoth Detective</em> as "The Metal Monster Murders": pb/] <ul class="x"> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=The+Metal+Monster+Murders&field-author=Reed+David+V" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">The Metal Monster Murders</a></em> (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, <b>2020</b>) [vt of the above: pb/]</li> </ul></li> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=Murder+in+Space+A+Complete+Science+Fiction+Novel&field-author=Reed+David+V" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">Murder in Space: A Complete Science Fiction Novel</a></em> (New York: Galaxy Science Fiction Novel, <b>1954</b>) [first appeared May 1944 <a href="/entry/amazing">Amazing</a>: pb/Ed <a href="/entry/emshwiller_ed">Emshwiller</a>]</li> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=Empire+of+Jegga&field-author=Reed+David+V" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">Empire of Jegga</a></em> (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, <b>2012</b>) [first appeared November 1943 <a href="/entry/amazing">Amazing</a>: pb/R G <a href="/entry/jones_r_g">Jones</a>]</li> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=Planet+of+Ghosts&field-author=Reed+David+V" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">Planet of Ghosts</a></em> (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, <b>2012</b>) [dos: first appeared March 1952 <a href="/entry/amazing">Amazing</a>: pb/Alex <a href="/entry/schomburg_alex">Schomburg</a>]</li> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=Death+Plays+a+Game&field-author=Reed+David+V" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">Death Plays a Game</a></em> (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, <b>2015</b>) [dos: first appeared December 1941 <a href="/entry/fantastic_adventures">Fantastic Adventures</a>: pb/Rod <a href="/entry/ruth_rod">Ruth</a>]</li> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=Myshkin&field-author=Reed+David+V" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">Myshkin</a></em> (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, <b>2017</b>) [dos: first appeared April 1953 <a href="/entry/other_worlds">Other Worlds Science Stories</a>: pb/]</li> </ul> <p><b>collections</b></p> <ul class="x"> <li><em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=The+Uncanny+Experiments+of+Dr+Varsag&field-author=Reed+David+V" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">The Uncanny Experiments of Dr. Varsag</a></em> (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, <b>2015</b>) [coll: dos: includes <em>Dr. Varsag's Experiment</em> (January 1940 <a href="/entry/amazing">Amazing</a>) and <em>Dr. Varsag's Second Experiment</em> (August 1943 <a href="/entry/amazing">Amazing</a>) both as by Craig Ellis: pb/Robert <a href="/entry/fuqua_robert">Fuqua</a>]</li> </ul> <p><b>links</b></p> <ul class="x"> <li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?2004">Internet Speculative Fiction Database</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/gallery.php?link=reed_david_v">Picture Gallery</a></li> </ul> <p><b>previous versions of this entry</b></p> <ul><li><a href='https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/reed_david_v' target='_blank'>Internet Archive</a></li></ul><br /><br /></article></div> <div class="sideBarsWrapper"> <div class="sideBarsColsWrapper clearfix"> <div class="column sideBar12 clearfix"> <div class="columnForm"><aside id="blogFeed" class="widget"> <div class="content STeditorial clearfix"> <h2>Recently visited 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