Mantlo: A Life in Comics

Mantlo: A Life in Comics by David Yurkovich
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mantlo: A Life in Comics is the story of Bill Mantlo and his career at Marvel Comics.

Bill Mantol was a writer for Marvel Comics for many years, creating such characters as Rocket Raccoon, Cloak & Dagger, White Tiger, Jack of Hearts, and many others. In 1992, Bill was struck by a car while rollerblading. The driver was never caught and Bill suffered severe brain injuries, leaving him under constant care ever since. The proceeds from Mantlo: A Life in Comics go toward his care.

The book starts with Bill's childhood, complete with obsession with all things Marvel, to his adulthood, working for them as a writer. The book goes into great detail on his trials and tribulations, from the revolving door of artists on The Micronauts, to his conflicts with Jim Shooter, to his eventual exit.

I'm a little late to the Mantlo party, although I had a Biotron Micronauts figure and one of the earliest comics I bought was an issue of Peter Parker: Spectacular Spider-Man that he wrote. In the past couple months, I've been reviewing his Micronauts run over at Dantastic Comics and I've quickly become a huge fan. This book makes me want to track down more of his work. The phrase "I want to read Deadly Hands of Kung Fu and Rom: Spaceknight" had never entered my brain before this volume and now I really want to track them down.

David Yurkovich does a great job chronicling Bill Mantlo's career. Even such obscure works as The Man From Atlantis are mentioned. It's a damn shame how Bill's career ended, struck down while he had so much left to give, both as a writer and as a public defender. Anyone who enjoyed the two Guardians of the Galaxy movies might want to give this a read and put a little money toward Bill Mantlo's continued care. Five out of five stars.

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