Early life and career Richard E. Hughes was born
Leo Rosenbaum on November 5, 1909. He graduated from
New York University in 1930 with a Bachelor of Arts degree as an English major and Economics minor. He married his wife, Annabel, on January 19, 1935. By 1940, Hughes was working in sales at Standard Mirror and Metal Products in New York City, writing catalog copy, and had also begun writing for publisher
Ned Pines'
Standard Comics. There he and artist
Alexander Kostuk created the superhero
Doc Strange (no relation to
Marvel Comics' much later
Doctor Strange) in
Thrilling Comics #1 (
cover-dated Feb. 1940). The following year, Hughes was working for the Syndicated Features Corporation. the colloquial name for businessman
Benjamin W. Sangor's studio of writers and artists that, like other such "packagers" of the time, created comics on demand for publishers testing the new medium. Hughes' resume at the time listed him as an editorial assistant; by 1943, he was an editor there. By the following year Hughes was editing comics for Standard and
The Kilroys. An October 1, 1952 "Statement of the Ownership, Management, and Circulation" published in ACG's
Forbidden Worlds #15 gave the publisher's name as Preferred Publications, Inc., 8 Lord St., Buffalo, New York" and the owners as Preferred Publications and "B. W. Sangor, 7 West 81st Street, New York, N. Y." The editor was listed as Richard E.Hughes, 120 West 183rd St., New York, N. Y." and the business manager as "Frederick H. Iger, 50 Beverly Road,
Great Neck, Great Neck,
L. I., N. Y." An October 1, 1950 statement published in ACG's
Cookie #29 gives identical data, with the exception of the publisher and co-owner being listed as "Michel Publications, Inc. 420 DeSoto Ave.,
St. Louis 7, Mo. Later life and career Hughes additionally wrote radio and television advertisements. His final comics work was uncredited stories for DC Comics' ''
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen, Hawkman'' and supernatural-mystery anthologies. Hughes died on January 15, 1974, of
myelofibrosis ==Legacy==