Bill Mantlo

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Write the second section of your page here.Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox comics creatorWilliam Timothy Mantlo (born November 9, 1951) is an American comic-book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics, 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.  An attorney, he also worked as a public defender.  Mantlo was the victim of a hit-and-run accident in 1992 and has been in institutional care ever since. 

Biography===

Education and early career

===Bill Mantlo was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the oldest of three sons of William W. and Nancy Mantlo. Growing up as a comics fan, Mantlo attended Manhattan's High School of Art & Design. In college at the Cooper Union School of Art, 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, as he worked on several issues that appeared between October 1974 and April 1975.Bill Mantlo,was known to have whited out a whole issue of Iron Man with face plate nose,who Stan Lee ordered a nose added.There was also the chance that [Stan] Lee would swoop in, look at a page, and offer an offhand remark that would send the office scrambling. Near the end of Roy Thomas' tenure, Lee had taken a look at Iron Man pages in which it was so flat it didn't look like Tony Stark's nose would fit. "Shouldn't he have a nose?" he asked Thomas... In the next issue, Stark redesigned his helmet to include a big metal triangle in the front. Months later, Iron Man pages by Mike Esposito landed on the desk of... Bill Mantlo. "I'm looking at this book and thinking, 'Jesus Christ, I must be hallucinating'" said Mantlo. Iron Man doesn't have a nose.' So I sat there, very innocently, with a tube of White-Out, and painted out all the noses, and maybe an hour later, I hear screaming, 'Esposito, are you out of your mind?! What happened to his nose?'...". Mantlo went through and dutifully scraped the White-Out from every panel.Twenty pages later... As it was, [Stan] barely looked at the comics. He took a look at Iron Man for the first time in over a year, saw the triangular nose that had been added to the helmet on his own orders, and said, "What's this - why is this here?""You don't want that?""Well, it looks kind of strange, doesn't it?" Lee zoomed away, on to the next thing."  

According In the decade since creation,Iron Man's faceplace never included a nose,but Lee was the boss.In the next issue,Stark redesigned his helmet to include a big metal triangle in front.Month's later,Iron Man pages by Mike Esposito landed on the desk of Production Manager John Verpoorten's brand-new assistant,BillMantlo.I'm hallucinating.''said Mantlo.Iron man dosen't have a nose.So I sat there,very innocently,with a tude of white out,and painted out all the noses,and maybe an hour later,I hear screaming.Esposito,are you out of your mind?!What happened to his nose?"..Mike comes in and he's raging

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. While scripting Deadly Hands, Mantlo and artist George Pérez created White Tiger, comics' first Puerto Rican superhero.

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.

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, also known as 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.

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.  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 due to disputes with management. He wrote briefly for DC Comics in 1988, scripting the Invasion! miniseries. By this time he had passed the bar exam, and in 1987 began working as a Legal Aid Society public defender in The Bronx.

Personal life

Mantlo was married to Karen Mantlo (née Pocock), for some years a letterer in the comics industry. They have a son, Adam, and a daughter, Corinna (born 1981). 

Skating accident

On July 17, 1992, Mantlo was struck by a car while rollerblading. 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." In 2007, 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, on December 6, 2007, the Portland, Oregon, comic-book shop Floating World Comics sponsored "Spacenight: A Tribute to Bill Mantlo", an art show consisting almost entirely of various artists' interpretations of Rom, to help raise funds for Mantlo's care. Throughout December 2010, Floating World Comics sponsored "Spacenite2", also featuring artists' interpretations of Rom, with all proceeds going to Mantlo's care. and an art auction at the end of December 2010 

Selected bibliography

Marvel Comics

• Alpha Flight #29–67, Annual #1–2 (1985–1989)
• Amazing Adventures (Killraven) #33, 38 (1975–1976)
• The Amazing Spider-Man #181, 222, 237, Annual #10–11, 17 (1976–1983)
• Astonishing Tales #32–35 (1975–1976)
• Avengers #174, 188, 206–207, 210, Annual #9, 12 (1978–1983)
• Champions #8–17 (1976–1978)
• Cloak and Dagger (1983–1984 mini-series) #1–4, (1985–1987 ongoing series) #1–11
• Daredevil No. 140 (1976)
• Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #7–14, 16–27, 29–32 (1974–1977)
• Defenders No. 30 (1975)
• Fantastic Four #172, 182–183, 193–194, 216–218, Annual No. 13 (1976–1980)* Howard the Duck (comic book series) #30–31 (black-and-white magazine) #1–9 (1979–1981)
• Incredible Hulk #245–313, Annual #10–13 (1980–1985)
• Iron Man #78, 86–87, 95–115 (1975–1978)
• Jack of Hearts #1–4 (1984 mini-series)
• Marvel Preview #4, 7, 10, 22, 24 (1976–1980)
• Marvel Team-Up #38–51, 53–56, 72, 134–135, 140, Annual #1, 6 (1975–1984)
• Marvel Two-In-One #11–12, 14–19, 21–24, 47–48, 99 (1975–1983)
• Micronauts #1–58, Annual #1–2 (1979–1984)
• Rawhide Kid #1–4 (1985 mini-series)
• Rocket Raccoon #1–4 (1985 mini-series)
• Rom #1–75, Annual #1–4 (1979–1986)
• Sectaurs #1–8 (1985–1986)
• Spectacular Spider-Man #6, 9–10, 12–15, 17–34, 36–40, 42, 53, 61–89, 104, 120, Annual #1, 4 (1977–1986)
• Swords of the Swashbucklers #1–12 (1985–1987)
• Thor #240–241, 309 (1975–1981)
• Transformers #1–2 (1985)
• Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1–4 (1982–1983 mini-series)
• X-Men #96, 106 (1975–1977)* X-Men and the Micronauts #1–4 (1984 mini-series) 

Other publishers

• Creepy No. 109 (Warren) (1979)
• Invasion! #1–3 (DC) (1989) 

== See also ==* Roger Slifer 

==References==

 

External links

• Template:Comicbookdb
• ComicBookRealm.com: Bill Mantlo (archived here)
• Wikia: Marvel Database: William Timothy Mantlo
• The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
• Sleeping Giant Creations: BILL MANTLO BENEFIT PROJECTS (archived here)*Howling Curmudgeons: A Tribute to Bill Mantlo (archived here)*The Hulk Library: Tribute to Bill Mantlo (archived here)*Summit Business Media: National Underwriter Life & Health: Tragic Tale (archived here)
• Summit Business Media: National Underwriter Life & Health: Make Mine Mantlo (editorial based on "Tragic Tale")*Summit Business Media: National Underwriter Life & Health: 9 of Bill Mantlo's Best Comic Covers Template:S-startTemplate:Succession boxTemplate:Succession boxTemplate:Succession boxTemplate:Succession boxTemplate:Succession boxTemplate:Succession boxTemplate:Succession boxTemplate:S-end Template:Authority controlTemplate:Persondata