Gold entered the comic industry as DC's first
public relations manager. His job was to improve DC's interactions with the
direct market and comic fans. Gold launched
First Comics in 1983 with a line-up of creators including
Frank Brunner,
Mike Grell,
Howard Chaykin,
Joe Staton,
Steven Grant,
Timothy Truman, and
John Ostrander. Among the titles Gold edited were Chaykin's satirical futuristic cop series
American Flagg; Ostrander and Truman's
GrimJack;
Mike Baron and
Steve Rude's
Nexus;
Badger;
Jim Starlin's space opera series
Dreadstar and
Mike Grell's
Jon Sable Freelance, which was
briefly adapted for TV. In 1986, Gold left First Comics and returned to DC, where he edited
Legends,
The Shadow,
The Question,
Action Comics Weekly,
Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters,
Blackhawk, and
Hawkworld. In 2005, Gold revived
Jon Sable Freelance and
GrimJack for
IDW Publishing with new miniseries and reprint collections of the First Comics issues, and would also publish a complete collection of
Mars. In 2006, Gold co-founded ComicMix with
Brian Alvey and
Glenn Hauman. In 2011, he received the first Humanitarian Award from the
Hero Initiative during the
Harvey Awards ceremony at the Baltimore Comic-Con. Gold has worked with the
Organic Theater Company of Chicago and the
American Shakespeare Theatre, been involved with numerous political efforts, and a significant contributor to an award-winning
Head Start and early childhood education program for the Child Care Center of Stamford. His writings have appeared in a wide range of newspapers and magazines, including
The Chicago Tribune,
The Realist and
MacUser magazine. Since 2018, Gold has been contributing opinion columns on the Pop Culture Squad website. His topics include comic books analysis, history, and commentary as well as political opinions. In 2023, he began co-hosting the Pop Culture SquadCast - Live podcast that is broadcast on the site's YouTube channel. == References ==