Michael E. Uslan is an American producer of the Batman films and was the first instructor to teach an accredited course on comic book folklore at any university.
Uslan recalls that Roger Stern "has been teaching a one-hour credit experimental course on comic book history and art," while he was "having fun with an I.U. Free University course on 'The Comic Book Hero'." Stern and Uslan discovered they shared interests, and when Stern "couldn't stand teaching the course any longer," Uslan took it over and changed it into one that took Uslan intended that his course on comics gives students the full three hours of college credit, on a par with "history, physics, or chemistry." Requiring a sponsor in order to be eligible to teach, Uslan found a "progressive and enthusiastic" one in the form of Henry Glassie, a professor in the Department of Folklore, who, as a "leading expert in the field of folklore" was able to see superheroes as the logical descendant to Norse, Egyptian and Greek mythology. The Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences challenged the nature of Uslan's course, but gave his approval. Uslan's course, by then-titled "The Comic Book in Society," thus became "the first accredited course on the serious study of comic books." Uslan won fame for his comic book class by anonymously calling a local newspaper reporter and complaining about the course. TV crews filmed the first five meetings of the course, by then called "The Comic Book in America," including John Chancellor's NBC News. Intending to invite different speakers each semester, Uslan found that Denny O'Neil was voted for by the class so often that he became the regular invitee. Press coverage led to Uslan being invited to lecture at a number of colleges and high schools, as well as participate in talk shows on radio and TV. It also led to phone calls from Stan Lee, and eventually to a job offer from DC Comics. Uslan wrote a textbook dealing with his course, The Comic Book in America.
Producer
''Batman'' films
Uslan is best known as an executive producer with Benjamin Melniker of all of the modern Batman films to date, starting with Tim Burton's 1989 film, and continuing to Justice League and also including various direct-to-video feature-length films, including those based on and The Batman.
Other work
As a film and TV producer, in addition to their many DC Comics film credits, Uslan has "produced a surprisingly diverse list of film and television." These include Three Sovereigns for Sarah, starring Vanessa Redgrave, part of the American Playhouse series on PBS dealing with the Salem Witch Trials and the children's geography-teaching TV show Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?. Uslan created and co-produced the 1980s cartoon Dinosaucers and wrote a few episodes on the series. Uslan and Melniker were also associate producers on Disney's National Treasure. He was hired to advise Genuis Brands on the use of Stan Lee Universe IP in July 2020.
Writer
Uslan attempted his first comics writing in 1975 at DC Comics' version of The Shadow and publishing competitor Charlton Comics' Charlton Bullseye. He also wrote a comic-book adaptation of Beowulf for DC Comics in 1975. He wrote some Batman comics before moving on to motion pictures. He initiated Stan Lee's Just Imagine... and contributed short stories with renowned artists like John Severin, Gene Colan and Richard Corben to it. He wrote some The Spirit comics, before producing the feature film. With only some brief writing and editing stints in between, Uslan scripted the 2009 six-part story, Archie Marries Veronica. 2011 saw the publication of his autobiography, The Boy Who Loved Batman. Uslan then wrote the foreword to the 2012 Wiley & Sons book Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight, by Dr. Travis Langley.
Charity and other work
In 2005, Uslan donated his 30,000 comic book collection to Indiana University's Lilly Library, a collection which "filled three rooms of their house." Uslan was the honorary speaker at the 2006 Indiana University commencement ceremonies, held on May 6, 2006. Uslan was the honorary speaker at the 2012 Westfield State University commencement ceremonies, held on May 19, 2012.
