| Mike DeCarlo | |
|---|---|
 DeCarlo in 2024 | |
| Born | (1957-03-14)March 14, 1957 (age 68) |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Inker |
Notable works | "Batman: A Death in the Family" Legion of Super-Heroes Tales of theTeen Titans |
| http://www.mikedecarloart.com/ | |
Mike DeCarlo (born March 14, 1957)[1][2] is anAmericancomics artist. He is best known for his work forDC Comics in the 1980sinking the artwork of such artists asGeorge Pérez,Greg LaRocque,Keith Giffen, andJim Aparo.
DeCarlo has worked on various titles includingAtari Force,Cartoon Network Block Party,Crisis on Infinite Earths,Fantastic Four, andSimpsons Comics as well as adaptations of theWarner Bros. stable of cartoons includingLooney Tunes,Animaniacs,Pinky and the Brain andSuperman & Bugs Bunny.
Mike DeCarlo entered the comics industry as an assistant toDick Giordano.[3] When Giordano became an editor atDC Comics in 1980, DeCarlo became an inker in his own right.[4] DeCarlo inked the penciled artwork ofGeorge Pérez on "The Judas Contract" storyarc inTales of theTeen Titans with Giordano.[5][6] Pérez critiqued their work in a 2003 interview stating that "While not perfect in getting the same feel [as Pérez inking the art himself], they were closer as far as the crispness that the characters needed."[7] He inked theLegion of Super-Heroes from 1986 to 1988[5] first withGreg LaRocque[8] and then briefly withKeith Giffen. As inker of theBatman comic book series, DeCarlo worked on several key storylines including the "Ten Nights of The Beast" which introduced theKGBeast; "A Death in the Family" which featured the death of the secondRobinJason Todd;[9] and "A Lonely Place of Dying" which sawTim Drake become the third Robin.[5] In 2014, critic Greg Burgas ofComic Book Resources reviewed DeCarlo's inking ofJim Aparo's work on the final chapter of "Ten Nights of The Beast" commenting that "inkers who don’t add roughness to Aparo’s line work aren’t doing him any favors. DeCarlo is better than[Bill] Wray, but he still seems to keep Aparo’s work too smooth." He later adds that "I love the first image, with Batman and the Beast fighting in the sewer and the artists somehow putting their shadows on the wall. I don’t know if Aparo drew this in and then DeCarlo inked it, or if DeCarlo just inked it without the benefit of pencils. It’s quite cool, though."[10]
AtMarvel Comics, DeCarlo inkedConan the Barbarian,NFL SuperPro,The Mighty Thor, andWhat The--?![5]
Bongo Comics Group'sRadioactive Man series received anEisner Award in 2002 for "Best Humor Publication" while DeCarlo was one of the artists.[11]
DeCarlo illustrated the covers to theDC Heroesrole-playing game adventuresDeadly Fusion (1990)[12]: 46 andThe Law of Darkness (1990).[12]: 48 Other products in the game line that he drew include theWho's Who in the DC Universe Role-Playing Supplement 1 (1992) and theDC Heroes Role-Playing Game (3rd Edition, 1993).
Assisting Dick as background inkers were protégés Mike DeCarlo...and Bill Collins
The four-part storyline, written by Jim Starlin with art by Jim Aparo and Mike DeCarlo, appeared in four issues ofBatman under the title 'A Death in the Family' in 1988.
| Preceded by n/a | Omega Men inker 1983–1984 | Succeeded by Ricardo Villagran |
| Preceded by | Tales of the Teen Titans inker 1984–1985 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Larry Mahlstedt | Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 3 inker 1986–1989 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Batman inker 1987–1990 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | The Mighty Thor inker 1993–1995 | Succeeded by |
