After the reconsideration of Bill Mantlo that I accidentally hit upon the other day, it seemed like a good time to bring this up:

MANTLO: A LIFE IN COMICS (aka, The Bill Mantlo Project) was conceived in May 2006 by writer/illustrator David Yurkovich as a tribute to American comic book writer Bill Mantlo.

A life-long fan of Mantlo’s work, Yurkovich had felt compelled for many years to write and produce the project. Finally, this compulsion reached a critical mass, and he felt he could no longer delay the project’s commencement. David enlisted the help of many of Bill’s colleagues including Tony Isabella, George Pérez, Marv Wolfman, Al Milgrom, Ed Hannigan, Herb Trimpe, and Jackson Guice. Bill’s brother Michael has also been an active participant in the project, providing valuable insight as well as family photos. In addition, Bill’s daughter Corinna (also a writer) has offered personal reflections from her childhood.

Mantlo was a prolific author who wrote almost exclusively for Marvel throughout the 1970s and into the late 1980s. During this time he scripted nearly every major Marvel character including Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the Hulk. He developed Mego’s Micronauts toy line into an award-winning series that ran for nearly five years. MICRONAUTS was also among the first mainstream titles to be sold exclusively in comic book shops in the 1980s. Bill also authored a second toy-based comic, ROM: SPACEKNIGHT, and wrote every issue of the series (75 issues and 4 giant-sized annuals). Bill also created Cloak and Dagger, a crime-fighting duo that became two of Marvel’s most popular characters in the ’80s… Having conquered comics, Bill turned his attention to a law career. He became a successful public defender and worked in New York for several years. In the early 1990s, Mantlo was struck by a hit-and-run driver while rollerblading. The accident caused severe head trauma from which Bill is not expected to ever fully recover. But his vast contributions to the comics industry live on.

In writing MANTLO: A LIFE IN COMICS, Yurkovich spent dozens of hours sorting through archival interviews with Mantlo to provide a tribute book about Bill that features Bill’s story in his own words.

MANTLO: A LIFE IN COMICS is being produced as a non-profit venture. All proceeds from sales of the book are being donated to Bill’s caregiver to help ensure that Bill’s daily needs can be met. The book is planned for a late spring 2007 release.

The book is being self-published by Yurkovich, and he’s accepting donations to help with the publication to help the profits (and therefore donations to Mantlo’s caregiver) to be greater. Click on the link to find out how to donate, as well as to see sample pages from the book itself.

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