Michael Lawrence Fleisher (November 1, 1942 — February 2, 2018)[1][2][3] was anAmerican writer known for hisDC Comics of the 1970s and 1980s, particularly for the charactersSpectre andJonah Hex.
Fleisher was raised in New York City.[4] His parents divorced when he was four years old, and Fleisher developed the foundation of his laterWestern writing by spending Saturdays with his visiting father at Western movie double features. "I saw two Westerns every Saturday for years," Fleisher recalled in 2010. "So it wasn't very hard to write [Westerns] at all."[4]
Fleisher wrote three volumes ofThe Encyclopedia of Comic Books Heroes, doing some research on-site atDC Comics. He startedcomic book scripting in 1972, co-writing with Lynn Marron the full-issuesupernatural story "Death at Castle Dunbar" in DC'sSecrets of Sinister House #5 (July 1972). He co-wrote supernatural short stories with Maxene Fabe in DC'sHouse of Mystery, and a solo story in the companion titleHouse of Secrets #111 (Sept. 1973).[5] Collaborating with Russell Carley, who provided art breakdowns for Fleisher's scripts,[6] Fleisher wrote seven stories for those titles andForbidden Tales of Dark Mansion late in 1973.[5] Fleisher scripted theSteve Ditko–createdShade, the Changing Man series in 1977–1978.[5][7] Fleisher made several contributions to theBatman mythos in the early 1980s. He reintroduced theCrime Doctor inDetective Comics #494 (Sept. 1980),[8] co-created theElectrocutioner inBatman #331 (Jan. 1981),[9] and wrote the origin of thePenguin inThe Best of DC #10 (March 1981).[10]
After becoming, variously, an assistant editor and an associate editor underJoe Orlando on the DC humor seriesPlop! and the superhero anthology seriesAdventure Comics, Fleisher, with Carley's script-breakdown assistance, began writing the feature "The Spectre" in the latter title.[5] Beginning with the 12-page "The Wrath of ... the Spectre" in issue #431 (Feb. 1974),[11] Fleisher and artistJim Aparo went on to produce 10 stories of thesupernatural avenger through issue #440 (July 1975) (without Carley's assistance toward the end)[5] that became controversial for what was considered gruesome, albeit bloodless, violence. As comics historianLes Daniels observed, the character, created during the 1940sGolden Age and briefly revived in the late 1960s,
... got a new lease on life after Orlando was mugged and decided the world needed a really relentless super hero. The character came back with a vengeance ... and quickly became a cause of controversy. Orlando plotted the stories with writer Michael Fleisher, and they emphasized the gruesome fates of criminals who ran afoul of the Spectre. TheComics Code had recently been liberalized, but this series pushed its restrictions to the limit, often by turning evildoers into inanimate objects and then thoroughly demolishing them. Jim Aparo's art showed criminals being transformed into everything from broken glass to melting candles, but Fleisher was quick to point out that many of his most bizarre plot devices were lifted from stories published decades earlier."[12]
Fleisher wroteDC Comics'Jonah Hex character for more than a dozen years, beginning in 1974 inWeird Western Tales (taking over from the character's creator,John Albano), then from 1977 to 1985 in the character's self-titled comic.[13] A sequel series,Hex (1985–1987) transported the character into apostapocalyptic setting, making him the lead in ascience-fiction feature.[14]
WriterHarlan Ellison in a 1979 interview praised Fleisher's comics work, while also describing Fleisher and his work as "crazy", "certifiable", "twisted", "derange-o", "bugfuck", and a "lunatic". He also claimed that aPublishers Weekly review called Fleisher's novelChasing Hairy "the product of a sick mind", and that Fleisher's Spectre run onAdventure Comics had been discontinued by DC Comics because the company "realized they had turned loose a lunatic on the world."[15] While Ellison stated that some of what he was claiming was said "in some humor",[16] Fleisher, saying his "business reputation has been destroyed" and believing he was falsely portrayed as insane, filed a $2 millionlibel suit against Ellison, publisherGary Groth and the magazine in which the interview appeared,The Comics Journal.[17][18] The case came to court in 1986 and resulted in a verdict for the defendants.[17][19][20]
Afterward, Fleisher attended college atColumbia University in New York City, from 1987 to 1991, while also writing for the British comics magazine2000 AD.[21] Leaving the comics field that year, he moved toAnn Arbor, Michigan for graduate school[21] at theUniversity of Michigan, spending from 1994 to 1996 researching hisPh.D. thesis on commercializedcattle theft in Tanzania while living for two years[21] near Nairobi.[22] He then spent a year in New York writing his dissertation and earned a doctorate inanthropology.[21] After that, he worked as a "freelance anthropological consultant carrying out research assignments for humanitarian organizations in the developing world."[21] Fleisher died from complications of Alzheimer's disease in Beaverton, Oregon on February 2, 2018.[23]
Volume 2 includesSpider-Woman #26–32, 608 pages, July 2007,ISBN0-7851-2701-1
The Chronicles of Conan
Volume 19: Deathmark and Other Stories collectsConan the Barbarian #150, 200 pages, June 2010,ISBN978-1595825155
Volume 20: Night of the Wolf and Other Stories collectsConan the Barbarian #151-159, 200 pages, December 2010,ISBN978-1595825841
Volume 21: Blood of the Titan and Other Stories collectsConan the Barbarian #160-162 and 164-167, 200 pages, August 2011,ISBN978-1595827043
Volume 22: Reavers in the Borderland and Other Stories collectsConan the Barbarian #168-171 and Annual #9, 232 pages, June 2012,ISBN978-1595828125
Volume 28: Blood and Ice and Other Stories collectsConan the Barbarian #223, 224 pages, November 2014,ISBN978-1616553746
Volume 29: The Shape in the Shadow and Other Stories collectsConan the Barbarian #225, 224 pages, March 2015,ISBN978-1616553753
The Steve Ditko Omnibus Volume 1 collectsShade, the Changing Man #1–8 andCancelled Comic Cavalcade #2, 480 pages, September 2011,ISBN1-4012-3111-X
The Spectre: The Wrath of the Spectre Omnibus collectsAdventure Comics #431-440 andThe Brave and the Bold #180, 680 pages, September 2020,ISBN978-1779502933
^Bails, Jerry (2006)."Fleisher, Mike".Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999.Archived from the original on August 25, 2013. RetrievedAugust 25, 2013.
^"Michael Lawrence Fleisher". Tigard, Oregon: Autumn Funeral and Cremation Services.Archived from the original on March 14, 2018. RetrievedMarch 14, 2018.
^McAvennie, Michael (2010). "1970s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.).DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 174.ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9.Steve Ditko returned to mainstream comics withShade, the Changing Man. Joined by writer Michael Fleisher, Ditko unveiled the story of Rac Shade, a secret agent-turned-fugitive from the extra-dimensional world of Meta.
^Manning, Matthew K. (2014). "1980s". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.).Batman: A Visual History. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 137.ISBN978-1465424563.Not glimpsed since the Golden Age of comics, Bradford Thorne, alias the Crime Doctor, made his return in the lead story of this issue by guest writer Michael Fleisher and artist Don Newton.
^Manning "1980s" in Dougall, p. 138: "Plotted byBatman's new regular writer Marv Wolfman with dialog by Michael Fleisher and art by Irv Novick, this story saw Batman face this new costumed threat."
^Manning "1980s" in Dougall, p. 139: "After 40 memorable years as Batman's bird-obsessed number two foe, the Penguin had his bizarre beginnings finally revealed to a curious readership in this completely new origin tale ... written by Michael Fleisher with pencils by Romeo Tanghal."
^McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 159 "The Spectre re-materialized in the pages ofAdventure Comics. This time, however, he brought along an all-out wrathful disposition, delivering punishments that not only fit the crimes, but arguably exceeded them ... [Michael] Fleisher and [Jim] Aparo's run lasted only ten issues, yet it was widely regarded as some of their finest work, and the character's seminal period."
^McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 173: "Jonah Hex rode his horse out ofWeird Western Tales and into his own comic ... Longtime Hex scribe Michael Fleisher and artist José Luis García-López detailed the bounty-hunter traveling to Whalenberg, Tennessee."
^Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 214: "Transported from the Wild West of the past to a dystopic future society, Jonah Hex had to adapt to the times in this brave new world and series crafted by writer Michael Fleisher and artist Mark Texeira."
^Sanderson, Peter (2008). "1970s". In Gilbert, Laura (ed.).Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 190.ISBN978-0756641238.The Man-Thing returned in a new short-lived series, originally written by Michael Fleisher with pencil art by Jim Mooney.
