Introduction
Dann Thomas (born Danette Maxx Couto January 30, 1952) is an American comic book writer and is married to comic book writer and editor Roy Thomas. She has at times collaborated with her husband on All-Star Squadron, Arak, Son of Thunder, the Crimson Avenger miniseries, and Avengers West Coast.
She married Roy Thomas in May 1981 and legally changed her first name from Danette in the early 1980s.
Biography
Dann Thomas' earliest comic book credit appears on "The Sea of No Return" (credited as "Adapted from a story by Danette Couto") in Savage Sword of Conan #66 (July 1981). Her husband credits her with the original idea for Arak, Son of Thunder, noting, "Danette Couto (soon to be Dann Thomas) had this idea: What if a Native American had discovered Europe?" She began co-writing the Arak title with issue #12 (Aug. 1982) and would work with Thomas on most of his projects afterwards. Roy Thomas explained in 2011 that "Dann and I co-wrote Infinity [Inc.] from the beginning, coplotting it, with Dann usually, if not always, doing the first draft on the script, which I then rewrote. Not that she was openly credited as co-writer right away; I had to take it slow in that area." Dann Thomas co-wrote Wonder Woman #300 (Feb. 1983) and, as Roy Thomas noted in 1999 "became the first woman ever to receive scripting credit on the world's foremost super-heroine." A rare example of Dann Thomas' solo writing appeared in the Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents series published by Deluxe Comics. Roy Thomas' contractual obligations to DC Comics prevented him from working on the series but Dann Thomas was able to work on it.
Dann Thomas' last new comic book writing appeared in Cadillacs and Dinosaurs #9 (Nov. 1994), published by Topps Comics.
Tributes
The super-heroine Firebrand of the All-Star Squadron takes her civilian name, Danette Reilly, from Dann Thomas. Dann Thomas co-wrote later issues of All-Star Squadron, subsequent to the introduction of Firebrand. Another character based upon Dann Thomas is a woman named Danette who appeared in the story "What If Conan the Barbarian Walked the Earth Today?" published in What If? #13 (Feb. 1979).