Michelinie grew up inLouisville, Kentucky,[5] and worked at a commercial film production company before moving to New York to take part in an apprenticeship program started by DC Comics.[6]
Among Michelinie's best-known work are his two runs onIron Man with co-plotter/inkerBob Layton,[14] in the late 1970s and early 1980s which introduced the character'salcoholism and his specializedpower armor variants. He introduced two of Tony Stark's closest comrades,Bethany Cabe[15] andJim Rhodes[16] as well as new enmities withJustin Hammer[17] andDoctor Doom. His most notedcliffhanger was when Stark is thrown out ofS.H.I.E.L.D.'shelicarrier and has to don hisarmor completely to use its flight function before he hits the ground. After leaving the title in 1981, Michelinie reunited with Layton on the book late in 1986, and along withpencillerM. D. Bright, closed out preceding writerDennis O'Neil'sAdvanced Idea Mechanics arc and launched the "Armor Wars"; during this time he and Layton introduced the characterGhost.[18] Michelinie said that he had thought he would never return toIron Man, feeling that by the end of his run he and Bob Layton had done everything they set out to do with the series, but when the editor offered him the assignment, he agreed to do it after thinking about it overnight.[19] Michelinie leftIron Man again after issue #250, closing his second collaboration with Layton with a sequel to their Iron Man-Doctor Doomtime travel episode from issues #149–150.[20]
Michelinie was one of the writers ofThe Avengers from 1978 to 1982 and worked with artistsJohn Byrne andGeorge Pérez.[7] During this time he and Byrne createdScott Lang inThe Avengers #181 (March 1979),[21] and he created theTaskmaster with Pérez inThe Avengers #195 (May 1980).[22]
From 1987 to 1994, Michelinie wroteThe Amazing Spider-Man series, which featured the art ofTodd McFarlane,Erik Larsen, andMark Bagley, while introducing thesupervillainsVenom in issue #298 (March 1988)[23] andCarnage in #361 (April 1992).[24] Michelinie had planned to introduce Venom earlier and included a "teaser" scene inWeb of Spider-Man #18, in which Peter Parker is pushed by an offscreen Venom into the path of an oncoming train, the symbiote being unsusceptible to Spider-Man's "spider sense" that would have normally warned him of the attack. This was the first of what was to be several clues leading to the reveal of Venom. Michelinie leftWeb of Spider-Man shortly after and was not able to continue the introduction of Venom until his time writingThe Amazing Spider-Man.[25]
BehindStan Lee, Michelinie had the second longest run onThe Amazing Spider-Man as a writer.
He also wrote the limited seriesVenom: Lethal Protector in 1993, where Venom was the main character and acted as an antihero instead of villain for the first time.
He began working for DC again with the launch of theJustice League Task Force series in 1993 with artist Sal Velluto.[27] In 1994, Michelinie became the writer ofAction Comics which he stayed on for three years. As one of the five principal Superman writers at that time he co-wroteSuperman: The Wedding Album in 1996. David Michelinie and artistPaul Ryan are the only comic book creators to have contributed to the wedding issues of both Spider-Man (Peter Parker marryingMary Jane Watson inThe Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, 1987)[28][29] and Superman (Clark Kent) marryingLois Lane inSuperman: The Wedding Album (Dec. 1996).[30] He also wrote issues ofSuperman Adventures andSteel as well as the miniseriesLegion: Science Police,Superman's Nemesis: Lex Luthor andSuperman vs. Predator, his last credited work for DC Comics in 2000. The same year, he joined forces with Bob Layton again for the miniseriesIron Man: Bad Blood for Marvel Comics.[31]
After a hiatus Michelinie returned to comics by teaming-up withBob Layton andDick Giordano to formFuture Comics, where he wrote the seriesFreemind,Metallix andDeathmask from 2002 to 2003.[32][33] The company closed in 2004.
In 2007, Michelinie wroteKolchak Tales: The Frankenstein Agenda #1–3 forMoonstone Books.[34] Also for Moonstone, he wrote several prose short stories which appeared in the anthologiesThe PhantomChronicles (2007),Werewolves: Dead Moon Rising (2007) andThe Avenger: The Justice Inc. Files (2011).
In 2008, he and Layton collaborated again on a four-issueIron Man: Legacy ofDoom miniseries and in 2009 on the one-shotIron Man: The End for Marvel Comics.[35] It was followed by the one-shotWhat If? Iron Man: Demon in an Armor in 2011 and a four-issue-follow-up on the "Armor Wars" storyline published asIron Man #258.1–258.4 in 2013. He returned to his creationVenom with stories forVenom #150 (2017),Venom Annual #1 (2018) andVenom vol. 4 #25 (2020), all penciled byRon Lim,[36] who had also worked onVenom: Lethal Protector. After the success of the twoVenom films, in 2021 Marvel commissioned Michelinie to write a new five-issue-miniseries:Venom: Lethal Protector vol. 2, with art by Ivan Fiorelli, that was published in 2023.[37] It was followed byVenom: Separation Anxiety, another limited series, drawn by Gerardo Sandoval in 2024.[38]
As screenwriter, Michelinie worked on two episodes of the animated seriesIron Man: Armored Adventures (with Bob Layton as co-writer) and wrote the short filmsHellevator (2011) andNobody's Tomorrow (2018).[39]
^McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1970s".DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 163.ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9.David Michelinie's pen and Ernie Chan's pencils and inks provided the magic for this fantasy series that introduced Claw the Unconquered, a barbaric outlander with a deformed claw-like right hand.{{cite book}}:|first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 175: "The Sea King's fans were thrilled to see their hero resurface in his own title...Scribe David Michelinie and artist Jim Aparo chronicled Aquaman's [adventures]."
^McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 174: "Writer David Michelinie and artist Ed Davis presented an atypical war hero in Ulysses Hazard."
^DiFruscio, Mark (June 2009). "Star Crossed: Remembering DC's Star Hunters".Back Issue! (34). Raleigh, North Carolina:TwoMorrows Publishing:60–67.
^McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 176: "Writer David Michelinie and artist Val Mayerik introduced Madame Xanadu."
^Sanderson, Peter; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "1970s".Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 187.ISBN978-0756641238.Writer David Michelinie and inker Bob Layton began their classic run co-plottingThe Invincible Iron Man with issue #116.{{cite book}}:|first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 187: "In December [1978], co-plotters David Michelinie and Bob Layton, and penciler John Romita, Jr....came up with Bethany Cabe, a highly capable professional bodyguard and a different sort of leading lady."
^Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 188: "Writer David Michelinie and artists John Byrne and Bob Layton introduced James Rhodes Tony Stark's best friend and future super hero War Machine inThe Invincible Iron Man #118."
^Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 189: "Tony Stark's billionaire nemesis Justin Hammer made his first appearance inThe Invincible Iron Man #120 by writer David Michelinie and artist John Romita, Jr. and Bob Layton."
^DeFalco, Tom "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 233: "Although actually called 'Stark Wars', the story arc that became known as 'Armor Wars began in [Iron Man #225] and ran until June 1988."
^Van Hise, James (January 1987). "With Armor and Shield".Comics Feature. No. 51. Movieland Publishing. p. 33.
^DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 197: "Created by writer David Michelinie and artist George Pérez, Taskmaster could mimic any physical skill he had ever seen."
^Manning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2012). "1980s".Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 169.ISBN978-0756692360.In this landmark installment [issue #298], one of the most popular characters in the wall-crawler's history would begin to step into the spotlight courtesy of one of the most popular artists to ever draw the web-slinger."{{cite book}}:|first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Cowsill, Alan "1990s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 197: "Artist Mark Bagley's era ofThe Amazing Spider-Man hit its stride as Carnage revealed the true face of his evil. Carnage was a symbiotic offspring produced when Venom bonded to psychopath Cletus Kasady."
^Manning, Matthew K. "1990s" in Dolan, p. 259: "Writer David Michelinie and artist Sal Velluto introduced a different type of Justice League in their new ongoing series ''Justice League Task Force."
^Manning "1980s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 164: "Plotted by Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter and written by David Michelinie with pencils by Paul Ryan, this issue wasn't the standard wedding comic fare."
^Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 275: " The behind-the-scenes talent on the monumental issue appropriately spanned several generations of the Man of Tomorrow's career. Written by Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, David Michelinie, Louise Simonson, and Roger Stern, the one-shot featured the pencils of John Byrne, Gil Kane, Stuart Immonen, Paul Ryan, Jon Bogdanove, Kieron Dwyer, Tom Grummett, Dick Giordano, Jim Mooney, Curt Swan, Nick Cardy, Al Plastino, Barry Kitson, Ron Frenz, and Dan Jurgens."
