William Messner-Loebs
| William Messner-Loebs | |
|---|---|
 William Messner-Loebs at the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo in Columbus, Ohio in 2007. Photograph by Margaret Liss. | |
| Born |
William Francis Loebs, Jr. February 19, 1949 Ferndale, Michigan[1] |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Writer, Penciller, Artist, Inker |
| Pseudonym(s) |
Bill Loebs, Bill Messner-Loebs |
Notable works |
The Flash Journey: The Adventures of Wolverine MacAlistaire Thor Wonder Woman |
| Awards | Inkpot Award 1987 |
William Messner-Loebs (born William Francis Loebs, Jr.; February 19, 1949) is an American comic book writer and artist from Michigan, also known as Bill Loebs and Bill Messner-Loebs. His hyphenated surname is a combination of his and his wife Nadine's unmarried surnames.
Since the 1980s he has written substantial runs of series published by DC Comics, Image Comics, Comico, and other smaller comics publishers, including both high-profile publisher-owned superheroes and original creator-owned works which he has also illustrated.
Biography
Loebs' right arm was amputated above the shoulder in infancy because of a cancerous tumor;[2] he writes and draws with his left hand.
Loebs was a friend of Kevin Siembieda, and one of the players in Siembieda's role-playing group in Detroit; in 1981, his mother Frances (Schepeler) Loebs loaned Siembieda the money to print the first roleplaying book for his company Palladium Games.[3]
His first comics work was for Power Comics Company and on Noble Comics' Justice Machine with Mike Gustovich. His first ongoing series was Journey: The Adventures of Wolverine MacAlistaire, about 19th-century Michigan frontier life, which he both wrote and illustrated.[2] It was published from 1983 to 1986 by Aardvark-Vanaheim and Fantagraphics, followed by a limited series Journey: Wardrums. He wrote the 31-issue Jonny Quest series published by Comico from 1986 to 1988.[4]
In 1988, he began writing The Flash with issue #15 and continued through #61. He and artist Greg LaRocque introduced Linda Park as a supporting character in the series in The Flash vol. 2 #28 (July 1989).[5] Meanwhile he wrote Dr. Fate #25-41, and the Jaguar series for DC's Impact Comics imprint. He wrote Epicurus the Sage which was illustrated by Sam Kieth, and scripted The Maxx which was illustrated and co-written by Kieth. In 1990, Messner-Loebs became the writer of the Batman newspaper comic strip and wrote the strip until its cancellation the following year.[6]
In 1992 Loebs took over writing the Wonder Woman series, with pencils by Mike Deodato.[4] During his run from #63 to #100, he created the character Artemis of Bana-Mighdall,[7] for whom he wrote the mini-series Artemis: Requiem. Meanwhile he wrote Hawkman #9-27, penciled primarily by Steve Lieber.[8] In 1996 he had a brief run writing Marvel Comics' Thor. From 1997 to 1999 he wrote Impulse #29-49, penciled by Craig Rousseau. In 1999 he wrote the "V2K" mini-series Brave Old World for Vertigo, penciled by Guy Davis.[4]
His financial situation, following years of limited freelance work and the loss of his and his wife's home in the early 2000s, was publicized in the local newspaper and comics news sites and message boards on the Internet.[9][10] Author Clifford Meth teamed up with artist Neal Adams to create a benefit auction to help Messner-Loebs.[11] The two also created an art tribute book entitled Heroes & Villains with all proceeds aiding Messner-Loebs.[12]
His financial situation has improved since then, and he has had a number of works published, including an issue of Green Arrow in 2006,[4] and several pieces in The Three Tenors (Aardwolf Publishing), which he shared credits for along with Clifford Meth and artist Dave Cockrum. A new "Journey" story was included in the one-shot Many Happy Returns in 2008, and IDW Publishing reprinted the original material in paperback. He has done writing for Boom! Studios, including the four-issue Necronomicon[13][14] and a story for Zombie Tales. He has done illustration work for the 2007 humor book Chicken Wings for the Beer Drinker's Soul and produces a monthly cartoon for the Livingston [County, MI] Parent Journal. In 2008, he discussed additional, more substantial new works with various publishers.[15] In 2011, he wrote the DC Retroactive: The Flash – The '80s and DC Retroactive: Wonder Woman – The '90s one-shots.[16]
Bibliography
Aardvark-Vanaheim
About Comics
Angry Isis Press
Boom! Studios
Comico
Dark Horse Comics
DC Comics
|
Eclipse Comics
Fantagraphics Books
First Comics
IDW Publishing
Image Comics
Innovation Publishing
Last Gasp
Literacy Volunteers of Chicago
Marvel Comics
Noble Comics
Ted Valley
|
Awards
He received an Inkpot Award in 1987.[17]
References
- ↑ "William F. Messner-Loebs". INDUCKS. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
- 1 2 "Bill Messner-Loebs". Lambiek Comiclopedia. 2016. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016.
- ↑ Appelcline, Shannon (2011). Designers & Dragons. Swindon, United Kingdom: Mongoose Publishing. p. 156. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
- 1 2 3 4 William Messner-Loebs at the Grand Comics Database
- ↑ Cronin, Brian (October 26, 2014). "Almost Hidden – William Messner-Loebs' Run on Flash". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 13, 2015.
He introduced Linda Park, which is likely his most significant contribution to the Flash mythos.
- ↑ Greenberger, Robert; Manning, Matthew K. (2009). The Batman Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the Batcave. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press. p. 41. ISBN 0-7624-3663-8.
Shortly after the 1989 feature [film], Batman even returned to the funny pages for a bit, in a comic strip by writer William Messner-Loebs...Lacking enough support from various papers to make it financially feasible, the new comic strip folded after two years, despite Carmine Infantino trying his hand at its art chores.
- ↑ Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1990s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
- ↑ Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 267: "Hawkman fought a new string of dark adventures with the help of writer William Messner-Loebs and artist Steve Lieber."
- ↑ Brady, Matt (January 30, 2005). "Bill Messner-Loebs: Down but Not Out". Newsarama. Archived from the original on March 6, 2005.
- ↑ Meth, Clifford (2005). "Past Masters: Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Fanboys". Silver Bullet Comics. Archived from the original on July 28, 2006.
- ↑ "Clifford Meth and Neal Adams Tag-Team for Messner-Loebs". Comics Bulletin. February 23, 2005. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
- ↑ Meth, Clifford, ed. (2005). Heroes and Villains: The William Messner-Loebs Benefit Sketchbook. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing . p. 96. ISBN 978-1893905528.
- ↑ Manning, Shaun (June 2, 2008). "William Messner-Loebs Opens the Necronomicon". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016.
- ↑ Brady, Matt (June 4, 2008). "Waid & Loebs Talk About The Necronomicon". Newsarama. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016.
- ↑ Krug, Kurt Anthony (November 21, 2008). "Support from friends helps turn things around for artist". Grand Rapids, Michigan: MLive.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
- ↑ Goellner, Caleb (April 1, 2011). "DC announces Retroactive one-shots". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on July 1, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
- ↑ "Inkpot Award Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012.
External links
- William Messner-Loebs at the Comic Book DB
- William Messner-Loebs at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
- William Messner-Loebs at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
- Official Facebook page
- Comic Vine profile
| Preceded by Mike Baron |
The Flash writer 1988–1992 |
Succeeded by Mark Waid |
| Preceded by George Pérez |
Wonder Woman writer 1992–1995 |
Succeeded by John Byrne |
| Preceded by Warren Ellis |
Thor writer 1996 |
Succeeded by Dan Jurgens (in 1998) |