Mindy Newell: Je Ne Suis Pa Charlie Hebdo

Mindy Newell

These days Mindy Newell knows that if she could do it all over again she’d have gone to college for screenwriting and film editing. Instead she became a nurse to please her parents and pleasing your parents was what it was all about for nice Jewish girls who graduated from high school in 1971. But the creative larva was in her soul, and when the cocoon broke and the butterfly emerged, it flew to DC’s New Talent Showcase program. Under the auspices of legendary editors Karen Berger, Len Wein, Julius Schwartz, Paul Levitz, and ComicMix’s own Robert Greenberger, Mindy learned the craft and art of writing comics, including Tales Of The Legion, V, Legionnaires 3, Amethyst, Lois Lane: When It Rains God Is Crying, and numerous other comics, including a Superman story based on a dream Mindy had as a child. She also worked on Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg! and other independent comics. All this time Mindy continued to work as a nurse while being a single mom to her daughter Alixandra, until the late and dear Mark Gruenwald hired her as an assistant editor at Marvel, while writing stories of the Black Widow and Daredevil. She edited NFL Pro Action, a licensed kid’s magazine about football with the NFL until Marvel imploded in 1996. Returning to full-time nursing, she she also co-wrote a story for 2000 A.D. with her then-husband, British artist John Higgins. A few years ago Mike Gold called and asked her to join the team of columnists here at ComicMix, where her topics freely range from comics to pop culture to politics; she even wrote a piece about the great American thoroughbred Secretariat, which caused editor Mike to tell her that she had won the prize for the most off-topic column ever written ComicMix.

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3 Responses

  1. Mindy Newell says:

    My apologies to MAUREEN DOWD, columnist for the New York Times, for a typo re: her name.

  2. Marge L says:

    Hi. I read this column because Mary Mitchell posted it. I am one of John Ostrander’s sisters. So many points to ponder. Well done.

    “Gentlemen’s Agreement” absolutely formed my conscience. I really admired the Dorothy McGuire character. And when john Garfield (you’re right, he should have won an award) tactfully pointed out where she screwed up, I got the message. I never again sat quietly when someone insulted Jews, or Blacks or anyone else.

    I had forgotten about that impetus. Thank you for reminding me.

  3. Mindy Newell says:

    Marge, I can’t believe we never met over all these years!!!!

    Yeah, I love GENTLEMEN’S AGREEMENT, both the book and the movie. Did you read the book, which I have read about a zillion times–I’ve also seen the movie about a zillion times.

    Did you ever read GIANT? I highly, highly recommend it…not only as a great read, but also because, as I said in the column, it’s still relevant today, especially the “war” between Mexican-Americans, i.e., the browns, and white Texans. (Same bullshit going on in Arizona, too.)