About the Author: After beginning his writing career on DC horror titles, David Michelinie moved to Marvel. He and co-writer/inker Bob Layton established Iron Man's battle with alcoholism, use of specialized armor variants and vendetta against Doctor Doom, as well as other aspects of the character that endure to this day. Michelinie's unique blend of action, suspense and humor distinguished not only Iron Man, but also Amazing Spider-Man. With artist Todd McFarlane, he introduced the vicious vigilante Venom; he also wrote the first Venom limited series, Lethal Protector. Michelinie's run as Amazing writer was second in length only to that of Stan Lee himself, while he also authored tie-in titles Spectacular Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man and Spider-Man. He moved from Marvel's flagship character to DC's with a stint on Superman's Action Comics, later returning to the world of Tony Stark for writing collaborations with Bob Layton on Iron Man: Legacy of Doom and Iron Man: The End. Bob Layton began as a prolific and popular inker for Charlton, Marvel and DC Comics, where he first teamed with longtime collaborator David Michelinie on Claw the Unconquered and Star Hunters. The Michelinie-Layton duo's writing work on Iron Man (1978-1982 and 1987-1989) is one of the most popular and influential interpretations of that character. Leaving Marvel in 1990, he became a key writer/artist/editor at Valiant Comics, where he co-created characters such as X-O Manowar and rose to the post of editor in chief before departing. He still does occasional freelance work for DC and Marvel, notably Michelinie-Layton reunion projects Iron Man: Bad Blood (2000), Iron Man: Legacy of Doom (2008) and Iron Man: The End (2009). Bill Mantlo began his Marvel career on Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, in which he introduced White Tiger, one of the industry's earliest Hispanic super heroes. Eventually writing stories for almost every Marvel title, he did some of his most fondly remembered work on Incredible Hulk and Spectacular Spider-Man. He also created Rocket Raccoon, launched Cloak & Dagger in a pair of miniseries and guided Alpha Flight through some of its most harrowing ordeals. Mantlo excelled at integrating licensed properties into the Marvel Universe, as demonstrated by Micronauts and Rom, both of which he wrote from start to finish. At DC, he wrote the Invasion miniseries for one of the company's biggest crossover events. John Romita Jr. is a modern-day comic-art master, following in his legendary father's footsteps. Timeless runs on Iron Man, Uncanny X-Men, Amazing Spider-Man and Daredevil established him as his own man artistically, and his work on Wolverine and World War Hulk is among the most explosive comic art of the 21st century. In addition to Eternals with writer Neil Gaiman, JRJR teamed with Mark Millar on the creator-owned Kick-Ass, later developed into a blockbuster feature film starring Nicolas Cage. Spidey fans rejoiced at the artist's return to Amazing Spider-Man with the "Brand New Day" storylines "New Ways To Die" and "Character Assassination." He later helped relaunch Avengers with writer Brian Michael Bendis and Captain America with Rick Remender, and contributed to the blockbuster crossover Avengers vs. X-Men. For DC Comics, he drew big-name characters such as Superman, Batman and the Suicide Squad before making a welcome return home to Marvel and Amazing Spider-Man. Bob Layton began as a prolific and popular inker for Charlton, Marvel and DC Comics, where he first teamed with longtime collaborator David Michelinie on Claw the Unconquered and Star Hunters. The Michelinie-Layton duo's writing work on Iron Man (1978-1982 and 1987-1989) is one of the most popular and influential interpretations of that character. Leaving Marvel in 1990, he became a key writer/artist/editor at Valiant Comics, where he co-created characters such as X-O Manowar and rose to the post of editor in chief before departing. He still does occasional freelance work for DC and Marvel, notably Michelinie-Layton reunion projects Iron Man: Bad Blood (2000), Iron Man: Legacy of Doom (2008) and Iron Man: The End (2009). John Byrne has worked continuously in the comics industry as both writer and artist since 1975. After he initially collaborated with writer Chris Claremont on Iron Fist, Byrne and Claremont moved on to X-Men for a run still regarded as one of the title's finest. Byrne contributed an equally famed stint on Fantastic Four, earning comparisons to the original Lee/Kirby issues for his imaginative plotlines and dynamic artwork. He also spun Alpha Flight into its own title. In 1986, he revamped DC's flagship hero, Superman, reimagining the Man of Steel in a historic project heralded by a Time magazine cover. His remarkable contribution to the Marvel Universe extends to memorable associations with virtually every major hero, including celebrated runs on Captain America, Iron Man, Sensational She-Hulk, Namor the Sub-Mariner and Thing. In the 21st century, Byrne's considerable body of work includes IDW's Star Trek and Angel. Following Golden Age work at Marvel predecessor Timely Comics -- as well as at Fawcett, Hillman and others -- Carmine Infantino (d. 2013) made history at DC Comics, helping usher in the industry's Silver Age with the reintroduction of the Flash, within whose title he cocreated the Elongated Man and several members of the hero's famed Rogues' Gallery. His 1961 story "Flash of Two Worlds," which literally reshaped the DC Universe by introducing the Earth-1/Earth-2 concept, won Infantino two of his eventual 12 Alley Awards. After serving as DC's art director and publisher, Infantino returned to penciling on several titles; for Marvel, he provided notable runs on Nova, Spider-Woman and Star Wars, along with brief stints on Daredevil, Ghost Rider and Iron Man. He also drew Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, the historic first Marvel/DC crossover. John Buscema (1927-2002) literally wrote the book on being a Marvel artist -- namely, How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way -- and few were better qualified. His career dated back to the Timely/Atlas era of the late '40s and early '50s. Soon after beginning the Marvel Age of Comics, Stan Lee recruited Buscema from the advertising field to the Marvel Bullpen. Buscema followed a long run on Avengers with the long-anticipated first Silver Surfer series. He subsequently succeeded Jack Kirby on Fantastic Four, Thor and other titles. By the time of his retirement in 1996, Buscema had penciled nearly every Marvel title -- including his personal favorite, Conan the Barbarian. Jerry Bingham has penciled covers and/or stories for Black Panther, Iron Man and several Spider-Man titles. At DC, he penciled, inked and colored Mike Barr's controversial Batman: Son of the Demon graphic novel, and penciled covers for Spectre, Warlord and DC's Babylon 5 adaptation. He has also illustrated stories for Batman Confidential and First Comics' Warp. During the 1990s, he became a production artist in the film industry, designing props and special effects. Alan Weiss was a popular contributor to Avengers and Captain Marvel throughout the 1970s and 1980s. More recently, he rendered a tale of a Civil War-era Batman in Batman: The Blue, the Grey and the Bat. Luke McDonnell penciled a long stint on Iron Man, encompassing the controversial storyline in which Tony Stark ceded the Iron Man armor to his friend James Rhodes. McDonnell's work also appeared in Daredevil, Spectacular Spider-Man, What If? and elsewhere. At DC, he penciled most of John Ostrander's Suicide Squad and its spinoff miniseries Deadshot, as well as a Justice League of America stint during its "Detroit JLA" phase. Eclipso, Green Lantern: Mosaic and Secret Origins are only a few of the other titles benefiting from his work. From his early work as letterer at Seaboard-Atlas, Alan Kupperberg went on to contribute to Marvel's black-and-white magazines -- including Crazy, for which he wrote and illustrated the sardonic shenanigans of Obnoxio the Clown. The regular artist on Roy Thomas' Invaders, Kupperberg contributed as both writer and artist to Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, What If? and multiple Spider-Man titles. He also illustrated the Howard the Duck and Incredible Hulk comic strips; and wrote, penciled, inked, colored and lettered Obnoxio the Clown vs. the X-Men. At DC, he penciled Blue Devil, Fury of Firestorm, Justice League of America and more. He has also worked on animation projects for Don Bluth Studios and Nickelodeon.

Format: Hardcover | Pages: 944 | Publication Date: 2027-04-13