J. M. DeMatteis

John Marc DeMatteis (born December 15, 1953) is an American writer of comic books.

Biography

Early career

Born in Brooklyn, DeMatteis graduated from Midwood High School^{[citation needed]} and Empire State College^{[citation needed]} and worked as a music critic before getting his start in comic books at DC Comics in the late 1970s, when he contributed to the company's line of horror comics. He began writing for Marvel Comics in 1980 on the The Defenders, and had a lengthy run on Captain America, paired with penciler Mike Zeck.

1980s

In 1987, DeMatteis and Zeck re-teamed for the "Kraven's Last Hunt" arc that ran throughout Marvel's then three Spider-Man titles. DeMatteis and illustrator Jon J. Muth created the graphic novel Moonshadow, the first fully-painted series in American comics^{[citation needed]} for Marvel's Epic line. DeMatteis followed this with Blood: A Tale, a hallucinatory vampire story drawn by Kent Williams, and the 1986 Dr. Strange graphic novel Into Shambhala.

Moving back to DC, DeMatteis succeeded Gerry Conway as writer of the superhero-team title Justice League of America. When that series was cancelled in the wake of the company-wide crossover Legends, DeMatteis stayed through its relaunch as Justice League International, scripting over the plots of Keith Giffen.

JLI took such lesser-known DC characters as Martian Manhunter, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Mister Miracle, Captain Atom, and Power Girl and turned the then-current preoccupation with "grim 'n' gritty" superheroes on its head. The lighthearted series emphasized the absurd aspects of people with strange powers, wearing colorful costumes, volunteering to fight evildoers. While the League had its serious side and often faced world-threatening villains, it also featured such characters as the lovably inept G'Nort, the worst Green Lantern in the Corps; Mr. Nebula, the interplanetary decorator; the Injustice League, a bunch of bumbling losers; and a flock of homicidal penguins who had been hybridized with piranhas.

1990s

DeMatteis stayed with JLI for five years, often scripting its spin-offs (such as a Mister Miracle solo title, or a European branch of the Justice League). DeMatteis also contributed tales of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Doctor Fate (reinventing the character in a 1980s miniseries with Keith Giffen, which was followed by a series penciled by Shawn McManus) to DC.

Back at Marvel, DeMatteis again succeeded Conway, this time as writer of The Spectacular Spider-Man in 1991, taking the series in a grimmer, more psychologically oriented direction. In collaboration with regular artist Sal Buscema, DeMatteis' story arc The Child Within (#178-184) featured the return of the Harry Osborn Green Goblin. Spider-Man's battle with the Goblin continued in The Osborn Legacy in #189 and came to an end when Harry was killed in The Best Of Enemies! (#200).

In the mid-1990s, DeMatteis took over from David Michelinie as writer of The Amazing Spider-Man for a run that included the apparent death of Peter Parker's Aunt May and the beginnings of the "Clone Saga" arc. DeMatteis as well worked on such characters as Doctor Strange, Daredevil, Man-Thing, and the Silver Surfer.

DeMatteis helped launch DC's mature-audience Vertigo imprint, writing the graphic novels Mercy and Farewell, Moonshadow (a sequel to the Epic Comics series), the miniseries The Last One, and the 15-issue series Seekers Into The Mystery, the story of a Hollywood screenwriter on a journey of self-discovery and the search for universal truths.

DeMatteis wrote an autobiographical, digest-sized miniseries Brooklyn Dreams, published by DC's Paradox Press imprint. DeMatteis' most personal work, it was later collected in one volume under the Vertigo imprint.

21st century

In the 2000s, DeMatteis redefined the Spectre, through the character of Hal Jordan, as a spirit of redemption rather than of vengeance, and in 2003, with Giffen, he revived the Justice League International for the mini-series Formerly Known as the Justice League. The series won Giffen, DeMatteis and artist Kevin Maguire an Eisner Award.^[1] The team followed this with "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League" arc in JLA Classified and, at Marvel, a five-issue run of The Defenders. In 2006, DeMatteis and Giffen began work on two original superhero comedy series, Hero Squared and Planetary Brigade for Boom! Studios.^[2] The two have reteamed yet again with Maguire for DC Comics' Metal Men, the backup in the Giffen scripted Doom Patrol relaunch. DeMatteis later teamed with veteran artist Mike Ploog to create the CrossGen fantasy comic Abadazad (May 2004). The following year, Ploog and DeMatteis announced they were collaborating on a five-issue miniseries, Stardust Kid, from the Image Comics imprint Desperado Publishing.^[2] The series moved to Boom! Studios in 2006.

The Walt Disney corporation acquired Abadazad for its Hyperion Books for Children imprint.^[2] The first two books in the series — Abadazad: The Road to Inconceivable and Abadazad: The Dream Thief — were released June 2006. The third book — Abadazad: The Puppet, The Professor and The Prophet — was released in the United Kingdom in 2007,^{[citation needed]} after which Hyperion canceled the series.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, DeMatteis became editor-in-chief of Ardden Entertainment, guiding the launch of a new Flash Gordon comic book series. Also in 2008, DeMatteis announced^{[citation needed]} his children's fantasy novel, Imaginalis, would published by HarperCollins in 2010; and a six-issue comic book limited series, illustrated by Mike Cavallaro, The Life and Times of Savior 28, which was released by IDW Publishing in 2009.^[3] He is also writing the Metal Men back-up story in the new Doom Patrol.^[4][5]

Other media

DeMatteis has also written for television, having scripted episodes of the 1980s incarnation of The Twilight Zone, the syndicated series The Adventures of Superboy and Earth: Final Conflict, as well as for the animated series The Real Ghostbusters, Justice League Unlimited, Legion of Super-Heroes and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. He has written unproduced screenplays for Twentieth Century Fox, Disney Feature Animation and producer/directors Chris Columbus and Dean Devlin.^{[citation needed]}

Also a musician, DeMatteis released one album in the late 1990s, How Many Lifetimes?.

Awards

• 2004: Won the "Best Humor Publication" Eisner Award, for Formerly Known as the Justice League, with Keith Giffen, Kevin Maguire, and Josef Rubinstein^[1]

Notes

References

External links

• Creation Point (DeMatteis' blog)

Interviews

This section includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (January 2009)

• Major Spoilers Podcast (April 2009)
• Live Fanboy Radio Interview
• DeMatteis and Mike Ploog interview, NPR: All Things Considered (Sept. 2006)
• Comicsintheclassroom.net (Sept. 2006)
• Word Balloon Podcast (June 2006)
• TheComicFanatic.com (Dec. 2004)
• PopImage (Oct. 2001)
• PopImage (Jan. 2001)
• J.M DeMatteis along with Tom DeFalco Interviewed by Pete of Pete's Basement- 26:40- Time stamp. J.M. talks about his favorite Spidey story.
• J.M DeMatteis along with Mike Cavallaro Interviewed by Adam of Pete's Basement- 19:31- Time stamp. J.M talks about Savior 28.