William Messner-Loebs

William Messner-Loebs was born in Ferndale, Michigan.[3] His right arm was amputated above the shoulder in infancy because of a cancerous tumor;[4] 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 role-playing book for his company Palladium Games.[5]

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.[4] 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[6] and collaborated with artist Adam Kubert on the Jezebel Jade limited series, a spin-off from the Jonny Quest series.[7]

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).[8] He also reintroduced the Pied Piper as a reformed villain and established the character as gay, in issue #53 (Aug. 1991).[9]

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.[10]

In 1992 Loebs took over writing the Wonder Woman series, with pencils by Mike Deodato.[6] During his run from #63 to #100, he created the character Artemis of Bana-Mighdall,[11] for whom he wrote the mini-series Artemis: Requiem. Meanwhile he wrote Hawkman #9-27, penciled primarily by Steve Lieber.[12] 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.[6]

In 2005, following years of limited freelance work and the loss of his and his wife's home in the early 2000s, Messner-Loebs’s financial condition was publicized in the local newspaper and comics news sites and Internet message boards.[13][14] Author Clifford Meth teamed up with artist Neal Adams to create a benefit auction to help Messner-Loebs.[15] The two also created an art tribute book entitled Heroes & Villains with all proceeds aiding Messner-Loebs.[1]

His financial situation improved somewhat, and he had a number of works published, including an issue of Green Arrow in 2005,[6] 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[16][17] and stories for Zombie Tales. He has done illustration work for the 2007 humor book Chicken Wings for the Beer Drinker's Soul and a monthly cartoon for the Livingston [County, MI] Parent Journal. In 2008, he discussed additional, more substantial new works with various publishers.[18] In 2011, he wrote the DC Retroactive: The Flash – The '80s and DC Retroactive: Wonder Woman – The '90s one-shots.[19]

As of early 2018, William Messner-Loebs and his wife have continued to struggle financially, with Messner-Loebs working two part-time positions in Michigan.[20] In 2019, he co-wrote, with Amy Chu, issues #3–5 of the limited series Kiss: The End for Dynamite Entertainment, and contributed to an independent comic book anthology called YEET Presents.[21]

In September of 2020, William Messner-Loebs was named Project Editor for Resurgence Comics.[22]

In 1985, Messner-Loebs was nominated for the Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award.[23] He received an Inkpot Award in 1987[24] and his Jonny Quest series from Comico was nominated for the Kirby Award for Best Continuing Series and Best New Series that same year.[25] In 1989, Messner-Loebs was nominated for an Eisner Award as Best Writer for Jonny Quest and his Jezebel Jade series was nominated for the Eisner Award for Best Finite Series.[26]

For his work on The Flash, he received the first GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book in 1992.[27] He received the Bill Finger Award for Writing Excellence in 2017.[28]

• William Messner-Loebs at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• 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