Bill Mantlo

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox comics creator William Timothy Mantlo<ref name=seitz /> (born November 9, 1951<ref>Comics Buyer's Guide #1636 (December 2007); page 135</ref>) is an American comic book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics. He is best known for his work on two licensed toy properties whose adventures occurred in the Marvel Universe: Micronauts and Rom, as well as co-creating the characters Rocket Raccoon and Cloak and Dagger. An attorney who worked as a public defender, Mantlo was the victim of a hit-and-run accident in 1992 that left him with severe brain damage and has been in institutional care ever since.

Early life

Bill Mantlo was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the oldest of three sons of William W. and Nancy Mantlo.<ref name=seitz>Template:Cite web</ref> Growing up as a comics fan, Mantlo attended Manhattan's High School of Art & Design.<ref name=seitz /> In college at the Cooper Union School of Art,<ref name="micromakers">"Micromails: Meet the Micro-Makers: Bill Mantlo," Micronauts #7 (Marvel Comics, July 1979).</ref> he focused on painting and photography. Following his graduation, Mantlo held various civil service positions and worked as a portrait photographer.Template:Citation needed

Career

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,<ref name="micromakers" /> on several comics cover-dated from October 1974 to April 1975.<ref name="GCD">Template:Gcdb</ref> Soon afterward, 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.<ref name="BEM">Template:Cite journal</ref> While scripting Deadly Hands, Mantlo and artist George Pérez created White Tiger, comics' first superhero of Hispanic descent.<ref name="micromakers" /><ref name=Dorling>Template:Cite book</ref>

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 title be in danger of missing its deadline.<ref name=back103>Template:Cite journal</ref> Mantlo quickly became the "fill-in king", creating stories under very tight deadlines, many of which did find their way into print.<ref name="BEM" /> Wolfman explained that Mantlo "was both good and fast and at that point didn't have a lot of regular assignments."<ref name=back103/> 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<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and Rom,<ref>Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 191: "Prolific writer Bill Mantlo and artist Sal Buscema created a Marvel comics series and a whole mythology around Parker Brothers' toy 'ROM'."</ref> also known as Rom: Spaceknight. Mantlo recalled how one Christmas, he examined some action figures from Mego Corporation's Micronauts line, given to his son Adam. He said he began to envision the characters "as small, microscopic even, inhabiting an other-verse apart from, but conjunctive with ours," and specified that, Template:Quote

Mantlo convinced then-editor-in-chief Jim Shooter to obtain the comics license for these toys; Shooter then hired Mantlo to script their series.<ref name=innserspace>Template:Cite journal</ref> Mantlo and artist Michael Golden created the Micronauts' backstory of history, mythology, personalities, and an alphabet.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Micronauts, along with Moon Knight and Ka-Zar the Savage, became one of Marvel's first ongoing series to be distributed exclusively to comic book stores beginning with issue #38 (Feb. 1982).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Mantlo's first run on The Spectacular Spider-Man featured frequent appearances by the White Tiger.<ref name=Dorling /> He used the series to wrap up unresolved plot elements from The Champions series<ref>Manning "1970s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 101: "Bill Mantlo was the regular scribe of both Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man and The Champions...The Champions had recently been cancelled, and Mantlo decided to tie up a few of the title's loose ends in his other comic."</ref> and wrote a multiple-issue storyline that included the first work by artist Frank Miller on the Daredevil character.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Mantlo concluded his first run on the series with a crossover with the Fantastic Four #218 (May 1980).<ref>Manning "1980s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 113: "In the conclusion to a tale that had begun in the pages of Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #42 (May), writer [Bill] Mantlo and artist John Byrne had the latest incarnation of the Frightful Four face off against their Fantastic counterparts.</ref> Mantlo, Mark Gruenwald, and Steven Grant co-wrote Marvel Treasury Edition #25 (1980) which featured a new story starring Spider-Man vs. the Hulk set at the 1980 Winter Olympics.<ref>Manning "1980s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 113: "Spider-Man's fights with the Incredible Hulk were always popular with the fans, so Marvel decided to pitch the wall-crawler against the Hulk when the Mole Man and his gang of villains crashed the festivities of the prestigious Winter Olympics."</ref>

While writing The Champions he collaborated with artist Bob Hall, who said in 2013, "Bill was a peachTemplate:Sndvery helpful to me as I got started [in the comics profession] ... I think we were both as enthusiastic as we could get about this particular comic, but more because we were working at Marvel than because of the book itself."<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Mantlo began writing The Incredible Hulk with issue #245 (March 1980). His five-year run on the series was noted for his depiction of the Hulk as highly emotional and humanized, rather than bestial and savage.<ref name="Back70">Template:Cite journal</ref> Among the adversaries he created for the series were the U-Foes<ref>DeFalco, Tom "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 199: "Inspired by the 1979 Graham Parker song 'Waiting for the UFOs', the creation of the U-Foes was truly a team effort. Writer Bill Mantlo and artist Sal Buscema produced the first U-Foes story, but editor Al Milgrom helped design the costumes and Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter suggested some of the names."</ref> and the Soviet Super-Soldiers.<ref>DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 201: "The Soviet Super-Soldiers, the Russian equivalent of the Avengers, were a team of super-powered individuals assembled by the Soviet government in this issue by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Sal Buscema."</ref> Summarizing his early years with the Hulk, Mantlo remarked, "I did retreads of old Hulk stories to try and find a new direction, and just kept doing more and more repetition of what had already happened. Then [editor] Al Milgrom said, 'Well, don't accept this. If you want to make changes, make them. Take some risks.' That's when we decided to give Hulk Bruce Banner's intelligence. From that point on I felt as if I had finally had a direction and control over the character. So I guess I took a year and half or maybe two years to get to the point."<ref name="Back70"/> Mantlo and artist Ed Hannigan co-created the superhero pair Cloak and Dagger<ref>DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 207: "Cloak and Dagger's first appearance was written by Bill Mantlo and illustrated by Ed Hannigan. A socially conscious writer, Mantlo used the characters to address the problems of teenage runaways and the dangers of illegal drugs."</ref> in The Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (March 1982). Mantlo, Gruenwald, and Grant reunited to co-write Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions,<ref>DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 208: "Plotted by Mark Gruenwald, Steven Grant, and Bill Mantlo, and penciled by John Romita, Jr., Contest of Champions eventually saw print in June 1982."</ref> the first limited series published by Marvel Comics. Other work by Mantlo includes runs as the regular writer on Iron Man and Alpha Flight.<ref name="GCD" />

Public defender

By the mid-1980s, he was enrolled at Brooklyn Law School, graduating in 1987.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Though he continued writing for Marvel, his workload began to decrease due to disputes with management.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> He wrote briefly for DC Comics in 1988, scripting the Invasion! miniseries.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> By this time he had passed the bar exam, and in 1987 began working as a Legal Aid Society public defender in The Bronx.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Personal life

Mantlo was married to Karen Mantlo (née Pocock),<ref name="BEM" /> for some years a letterer in the comics industry. They have a son, Adam,<ref name="micromakers" /> and a daughter, Corinna (born 1980).<ref>Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins", Iron Man #148 (July 1981) and other Marvel Comics titles published that month.</ref>

On July 17, 1992, Mantlo was struck by a car while rollerblading.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The driver of the car fled the scene and was never identified. Mantlo suffered severe head trauma. According to his biographer, cartoonist David Yurkovich, in 2006, "For a while Bill was comatose. Although no longer in a coma, the brain damage he suffered in the accident is irreparable. His activities of daily living are severely curtailed and he resides in a healthcare facility where he receives full-time care."<ref name=Hatcher>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2007<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and again in 2010,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Portland, Oregon-based retailer Floating World Comics held fundraisers for Mantlo, featuring work by cartoonists celebrating Mantlo's work on Rom the Space Knight.

When Marvel Studios produced Guardians of the Galaxy, they negotiated a compensation package for the rights to Rocket Raccoon. Mantlo's brother credited this arrangement for ensuring he would have care for the rest of his life. They also arranged for Mantlo to have private screenings of that film and its sequel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Awards

Micronauts won the 1979 Eagle Award for Favourite New Comic Title.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2014, Mantlo received the Bill Finger Award.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Selected bibliography

Marvel Comics

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Other publishers

See also

Notes

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References

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