Bill Mantlo was born inBrooklyn, New York City, the oldest of three sons of William W. and Nancy Mantlo.[1] Growing up as a comics fan, Mantlo attended Manhattan'sHigh School of Art & Design.[1] In college at theCooper Union School of Art,[3] he focused on painting and photography. Following his graduation, Mantlo held variouscivil service positions and worked as a portrait photographer.[citation needed]
A connection with a college friend in 1974 led Mantlo to a job as an assistant to Marvel Comics production managerJohn Verpoorten. Mantlo's first credits were as a colorist,[3] on several comicscover-dated from October 1974 to April 1975.[4] Soon afterward, Mantlo wrote a fill-in script for aSons of the Tiger story inDeadly Hands of Kung Fu, which led to a permanent writing position on that title.[5] While scriptingDeadly Hands, Mantlo and artistGeorge Pérez createdWhite Tiger, comics' first superhero ofHispanic descent.[3][6]
Around this time, Marvel's then editor-in-chiefMarv 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 title be in danger of missing its deadline.[7] Mantlo quickly became the "fill-in king", creating stories under very tight deadlines, many of which did find their way into print.[5] Wolfman explained that Mantlo "was both good and fast and at that point didn't have a lot of regular assignments."[7] 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 thelicensed propertiesMicronauts[8] andRom,[9] also known asRom: Spaceknight. Mantlo recalled how one Christmas, he examined someaction figures fromMego Corporation's Micronauts line, given to his son Adam. He said he began to envision the characters "as small, microscopic even, inhabiting an other-verse apart from, but conjunctive with ours," and specified that,
Space Glider seemed to suggest a Reed Richards nobility, an aspect of command, of dignity. Acroyear, faceless, his armor gleaming, a fantastic sword clenched in his coldly metallic hand, seemed to hearken back to a warriorMr. Spock. For some reason Galactic Warrior seemed insect-like – I can almost hear clicks and whistles and strange scraping interjected into his speech. But Time Traveler – there was a mystery there, glimmerings of cosmic vastness, intimations of knowledge and space and time all having been broken down and reassembled to produce something entirely new, unexplainable, different.[10]
Mantlo convinced then-editor-in-chiefJim Shooter to obtain the comics license for these toys; Shooter then hired Mantlo to script their series.[10] Mantlo and artistMichael Golden created the Micronauts' backstory of history, mythology, personalities, and an alphabet.[11]Micronauts, along withMoon Knight andKa-Zar the Savage, became one of Marvel's first ongoing series to be distributed exclusively to comic book stores beginning with issue #38 (Feb. 1982).[12]
While writingTheChampions he collaborated with artistBob Hall, who said in 2013, "Bill was a peach – very helpful to me as I got started [in the comics profession] ... I think we were both as enthusiastic as we could get about this particular comic, but more because we were working at Marvel than because of the book itself."[17]
Mantlo began writingThe Incredible Hulk with issue #245 (March 1980). His five-year run on the series was noted for his depiction of theHulk as highly emotional and humanized, rather than bestial and savage.[18] Among the adversaries he created for the series were theU-Foes[19] and theSoviet Super-Soldiers.[20] Summarizing his early years with the Hulk, Mantlo remarked, "I did retreads of old Hulk stories to try and find a new direction, and just kept doing more and more repetition of what had already happened. Then [editor]Al Milgrom said, 'Well, don't accept this. If you want to make changes, make them. Take some risks.' That's when we decided to give Hulk Bruce Banner's intelligence. From that point on I felt as if I had finally had a direction and control over the character. So I guess I took a year and half or maybe two years to get to the point."[18] Mantlo and artistEd Hannigan co-created the superhero pairCloak and Dagger[21] inThe Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (March 1982). Mantlo, Gruenwald, and Grant reunited to co-writeMarvel Super Hero Contest of Champions,[22] the firstlimited series published by Marvel Comics. Other work by Mantlo includes runs as the regular writer onIron Man andAlpha Flight.[4]
Mantlo was married to Karen Mantlo (née Pocock),[5] for some years aletterer in the comics industry. They have a son, Adam,[3] and a daughter, Corinna (born 1980).[28]
On July 17, 1992, Mantlo was struck by a car whilerollerblading.[29] The driver of the car fled the scene and was never identified. Mantlo suffered severe head trauma. According to his biographer, cartoonistDavid 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."[30]
WhenMarvel Studios producedGuardians of the Galaxy, they negotiated a compensation package for the rights to Rocket Raccoon. Mantlo's brother credited this arrangement for ensuring he would have care for the rest of his life. They also arranged for Mantlo to have private screenings of that film and its sequel.[34][35]
^Issue #7 credits Mantlo as the writer of the "Cloak & Dagger" story but the issue was in fact wholly written by "Dr. Strange" writer Peter B. Gillis. The letters pages in later issues corrected this error.
^abcSeitz, Lee K. (January 13, 2000)."Bill Mantlo". Rom Spaceknight Revisited! (fan site).Archived from the original on May 17, 2011. RetrievedFebruary 2, 2009.
^abManning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura (2012). "1970s".Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 96.ISBN978-0756692360.Hector Ayala, aka the White Tiger, had already made history as Marvel Comics' first Hispanic super hero. In [Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #9's] tale, by writer Bill Mantlo and penciler Sal Buscema, he would join Spider-Man's cast of recurring characters in both his identities.
^abEury, Michael (April 2018). "How I Defeated the Dreaded Deadline Doom".Back Issue! (103). Raleigh, North Carolina:TwoMorrows Publishing: 4.
^Sanderson, Peter; Gilbert, Laura (2008). "1970s".Marvel Chronicle: A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 180.ISBN978-0756641238.TheMicronauts comics series, dating from January 1979, was based on toys made by the Japanese company Takara and distributed in the United States by the Mego Corporation.
^Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 191: "Prolific writer Bill Mantlo and artist Sal Buscema created a Marvel comics series and a whole mythology around Parker Brothers' toy 'ROM'."
^Lantz, James Heath (October 2014). "Inner-Space Opera: A Look at Marvel's Micronauts Comics".Back Issue! (76). Raleigh, North Carolina:TwoMorrows Publishing:41–54.
^Catron, Michael (July 1981). "Micronauts to be sold exclusively though comics shops".Amazing Heroes (2). Stamford, Connecticut: Fantagraphics Books:22–23.
^Manning "1970s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 101: "Bill Mantlo was the regular scribe of bothPeter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man andThe Champions...The Champions had recently been cancelled, and Mantlo decided to tie up a few of the title's loose ends in his other comic."
^Saffel, Steve (2007). "A Not-So-Spectacular Experiment".Spider-Man the Icon: The Life and Times of a Pop Culture Phenomenon.Titan Books. p. 73.ISBN978-1-84576-324-4.Frank Miller was the guest penciler forThe Spectacular Spider-Man #27, February 1979, written by Bill Mantlo. [The issue's] splash page was the first time Miller's [rendition of] Daredevil appeared in a Marvel story.
^Manning "1980s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 113: "In the conclusion to a tale that had begun in the pages ofPeter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #42 (May), writer [Bill] Mantlo and artist John Byrne had the latest incarnation of the Frightful Four face off against their Fantastic counterparts.
^Manning "1980s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 113: "Spider-Man's fights with the Incredible Hulk were always popular with the fans, so Marvel decided to pitch the wall-crawler against the Hulk when the Mole Man and his gang of villains crashed the festivities of the prestigious Winter Olympics."
^Walker, Karen (July 2013). "'We'll Keep on Fighting 'Til the End': The Story of the Champions".Back Issue! (65). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing:20–23.
^abShayer, Jason (February 2014). "Hulk Smash More!: The Incredible Hulk in the 1980s".Back Issue! (70). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing:50–63.
^DeFalco, Tom "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 199: "Inspired by the 1979 Graham Parker song 'Waiting for the UFOs', the creation of the U-Foes was truly a team effort. Writer Bill Mantlo and artist Sal Buscema produced the first U-Foes story, but editor Al Milgrom helped design the costumes and Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter suggested some of the names."
^DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 201: "The Soviet Super-Soldiers, the Russian equivalent of the Avengers, were a team of super-powered individuals assembled by the Soviet government in this issue by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Sal Buscema."
^DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 207: "Cloak and Dagger's first appearance was written by Bill Mantlo and illustrated by Ed Hannigan. A socially conscious writer, Mantlo used the characters to address the problems of teenage runaways and the dangers of illegal drugs."
^DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 208: "Plotted by Mark Gruenwald, Steven Grant, and Bill Mantlo, and penciled by John Romita, Jr.,Contest of Champions eventually saw print in June 1982."
^Kelly, Dave (January 1, 1989). "Mantlo WantsCloak and Dagger Back! Bill Mantlo's Fall From Grace".Amazing Heroes (156). Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books:48–50.
^Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah (2010). "1980s".DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 235.ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9.Crossing over into dozens of titles, DC released the three-issue extra-length volumes ofInvasion! by writers Keith Giffen and Bill Mantlo, with pencils by Giffen, Bart Sears, and Todd McFarlane.
^Johnson, Dan (May 2006). "Marvel's Toy Story: Rom's Sal Buscema and Micronauts' Jackson Guice: A 'Pro2Pro' Interview".Back Issue! (16). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing.
^Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins",Iron Man #148 (July 1981) and other Marvel Comics titles published that month.
^Coffin, Bill (November 7, 2011)."Tragic Tale".National Underwriter Life & Health. Archived fromthe original on January 3, 2012. RetrievedMay 23, 2012.
