Alan Brennert

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Alan Brennert (born May 30, 1954) is an American author, TV producer, and screenwriter who has lived in Southern California since 1973 and studied screenwriting at UCLA. He began his TV career in 1978, writing for Wonder Woman and later becoming story editor for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, where he wrote several episodes. He won an Emmy in 1991 as a producer and writer for L.A. Law.

Brennert is well known in science fiction and fantasy for his work on The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. His TZ episode “Her Pilgrim Soul” is highly regarded and was turned into a play; he has said writing it helped him cope with the death of someone he loved. He also adapted two Harlan Ellison stories for The Twilight Zone, and Ellison later called Brennert the only writer he would allow to adapt his work. Since 2001, he has written for Stargate Atlantis and Star Trek: Enterprise under the pseudonym Michael Bryant.

In addition to TV, Brennert writes short stories and novels. His first story, “Nostalgia Tripping,” appeared in 1973. He was nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1975 and won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story in 1991. His historical novel Moloka‘i (2003) follows life in Honolulu and the Kalaupapa leprosy colony in the early 1900s and received favorable reviews. A 2009 novel set in Honolulu drew on his Moloka‘i research and focused on a Korean picture bride.

Brennert also worked in comics. He conducted interviews for Marvel's Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction, plotted DC Comics’ Wonder Woman stories in 1977, and co-wrote Star Trek #12 for Marvel. He wrote a Batman lead story for Detective Comics #500, four Batman team-up stories for The Brave and the Bold, and a Daredevil issue for Marvel in 1983. He also contributed a Deadman story in 1989, a Black Canary tale in 1990, and wrote Batman: Holy Terror (an Elseworlds title). His final DC story appeared in Batman: Gotham Knights #10 (2000).

In 2014, Brennert sought equity for Barbara Kean Gordon in Gotham, but DC and Warner Bros. denied the request. A 2016 collection, Tales of the Batman: Alan Brennert, gathered much of his DC work. He has cited The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne from The Brave and the Bold #197 (1983) as his favorite DC story.