| Bill Mantlo | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | William Timothy Mantlo[1] November 9, 1951 Brooklyn, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Writer |
| Pseudonym(s) | "Boisterous Bill" "The Boisterous One"[2] |
| Notable works | Micronauts, Rom |
| Awards | Eagle Award, 1979 |
Bill Mantlo (born November 9, 1951)[3] is an American comic-book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics, and an attorney, best-known for his work on two licensed toy properties whose adventures occurred in the Marvel Universe: the Eagle Award-winning Micronauts and the long-running Rom. A victim of a hit-and-run accident in 1992, Mantlo has been in institutional care ever since.
Contents |
Biography
Education and early career
Born in Brooklyn and growing up as a comics fan, Mantlo attended Manhattan's High School of Art & Design. In college at the Cooper Union School of Art,[4] he focused on painting and photography. Following his graduation, Mantlo held various civil servant positions and worked as a portrait photographer.
Marvel Comics
A connection with a college friend in 1974 led Mantlo to a job as an assistant to Marvel Comics production manager John Verpoorten. Mantlo's first credits were as a colorist,[4] as he worked on several issues that appeared between October 1974 and April 1975. Soon afterword, Mantlo wrote a fill-in script for a Sons of the Tiger story in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, which led to a permanent writing position on that title.[5] While scripting Deadly Hands, Mantlo and artist George Pérez created White Tiger, comics' first Puerto Rican superhero.[4]
Around this time, Marvel's then editor-in-chief Marv Wolfman instituted a policy to avoid the many missed deadlines plaguing the company. The policy was to have fill-in stories at the ready, should a titles be in danger of missing its deadline. Mantlo quickly became the "fill-in king," creating stories under very tight deadlines, many of which did find their way into print.[5] By the mid- to late-1970s he had written issues of nearly every Marvel title.
Later, he became a regular writer at Marvel, notably for the licensed properties Micronauts and Rom a.k.a. Rom: Spaceknight. On Christmas Day 1977, Mantlo's son Adam opened a new present, a line of the Mego Corporation's Micronauts action figures. Seeing the toys, Bill Mantlo was instantly struck by inspiration to write their adventures. Convincing then editor-in-chief Jim Shooter to get the comics license for these toys, Mantlo was hired to script their series.[6] Mantlo and Michael Golden (the artist on Micronauts) took a few bits of colorful plastic and built an entire (subatomic) universe around them, with its own history, mythology, personalities, and even an alphabet. Ultimately, the Micronauts comic won the 1979 Eagle Award for Favourite New Comic Title.
In the same way, Mantlo turned an uninspired toy called Rom into a cosmic odyssey about chivalry, alienation, and what it means to be human.
Other notable work included the creation of the superhero pair Cloak and Dagger, and well-regarded runs as the regular writer on The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, and Alpha Flight.
Public defender
By the mid-1980s, he enrolled in law school. Though he continued writing for Marvel, his workload began to decrease. He wrote briefly for DC Comics in 1988, scripting the Invasion! miniseries. By this time he had passed the bar exam, and was engaged in full-time work as a Legal Aid Society public defender in the Bronx.[7][8]
Tragedy
On July 17, 1992, Mantlo was struck by a car while rollerblading. (The driver of the car fled the scene and has never been identified.) Not wearing a helmet at the time, Mantlo suffered severe head trauma and spent over two weeks in a coma. He has since been institutionalized, and is not expected to fully recover.[9] Mantlo now resides in the Queens Nassau Rehabilitation & Nursing Center,[10] where he must have 24-hour assistance. His care has long since used up his health insurance. In 2007, cartoonist David Yurkovich released the benefit book Mantlo: A Life in Comics, with all proceeds from the book donated to Mantlo's brother and caregiver, Michael Mantlo, to help toward the costs of maintaining Mantlo's care. In addition, Floating World Comics sponsored Spacenight: A Tribute to Bill Mantlo, an art show made (almost) entirely of various artists' interpretations of ROM, to help raise funds for Mantlo's care.
Personal life
Mantlo was married to Karen Mantlo (née Pocock),[5] for some years a letterer in the comics industry. They have a son, Adam,[4] and a daughter, Carina (born in 1981).[11]
Selected bibliography
- Alpha Flight
- The Champions
- Cloak and Dagger
- Daredevil
- Deadly Hands of Kung Fu
- The Defenders
- Howard the Duck (later issues of the series and the black-and-white magazine)
- The Incredible Hulk (#245 - #313)
- Invasion!
- Iron Man (#95 - #115)
- Jack of Hearts
- Marvel Preview (#4, #7, #10 #24)
- Marvel Team-Up
- Micronauts
- Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man
- Rawhide Kid
- Rocket Raccoon (4-issue Limited Series)
- Rom (#1 - #75 & Annual #1 - #4, December 1979 - February 1986)
- Sectaurs
- Thor
- The Transformers
- The Vision and the Scarlet Witch mini series.
- Werewolf by Night
- X-Men
Footnotes
- ^ Seitz, Lee K. "Bill Mantlo," ROM Spaceknight Revisited. Accessed Feb. 2, 2009.
- ^ Story credits, "Touch Not the Hand of Seth!" Marvel Two-in-One #22 (Marvel Comics, Dec. 1976).
- ^ Comics Buyers Guide #1636 (December 2007); Page 135
- ^ a b c d "Micromails: Meet the Micro-Makers: Bill Mantlo," Micronauts #7 (Marvel Comics, July 1979).
- ^ a b c Bill Mantlo interview, BEM: The Comics News Fanzine #24 (July 1979). Accessed Feb. 2, 2009.
- ^ "The Micronauts: Gil Kane Thinks Small," Amazing Heroes #7 (Dec. 1981). Accessed Feb. 15, 2009.
- ^ Mantlo, Bill. "To the Editor: Grand Juries Can Defend Rights of the Accused," New York Times (January 19, 1990). Accessed Feb. 15, 2009.
- ^ Johnson, Dan. Comicon.com "Marvel’s Toy Story: Rom's Sal Buscema and Micronauts' Jackson Guice: A 'Pro2Pro' Interview," for Back Issue #16 (Dec. 13, 2005). Accessed March 21, 2008
- ^ Hatcher, Greg. "Friday with David Yurkovich," Comic Book Resources (Oct. 27, 2006). Accessed Feb. 2, 2009.
- ^ http://www.queensnassaurehab.com
- ^ Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins," Iron Man #148 (July 1981).
References
- Bill Mantlo at the Comic Book DB
- The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
External links
- The Bill Mantlo Benefit Book
- Howling Curmudgeons (November 10, 2004): "A Tribute to Bill Mantlo", by Matt Rossi
- The Hulk Library: "Tribute to Bill Mantlo," by Miguel Colomo
- ComicBookRealm.com: Bill Mantlo
- "Spacenight – A Tribute to Bill Mantlo," Floating World Comics
| Preceded by Gerry Conway |
Thor writer 1975 |
Succeeded by Len Wein |
| Preceded by Roger Slifer & Len Wein |
Iron Man writer 1976 |
Succeeded by Archie Goodwin |
| Preceded by Gerry Conway |
Iron Man writer 1977–1978 (with Gerry Conway in early 1977) |
Succeeded by Bob Layton & David Michelinie |
| Preceded by Steve Gerber |
Howard the Duck writer 1979–1981 |
Succeeded by Steven Grant |
| Preceded by N/A |
Micronauts writer 1979–1984 |
Succeeded by Peter B. Gillis |
| Preceded by Steven Grant |
Incredible Hulk writer 1980–1985 |
Succeeded by John Byrne |
| Preceded by John Byrne |
Alpha Flight writer 1985-1988 |
Succeeded by James D. Hudnall |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
