| Bill DuBay | |
|---|---|
| Born | William Bryan Dubay (1948-01-11)January 11, 1948 |
| Died | April 15, 2010(2010-04-15) (aged 62) Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Area | Writer, Artist, Editor |
| Pseudonym(s) | Will Richardson, Dube |
| Spouse(s) | Peggy Buckler Vanessa Hart |
| Children | 5 |
William Bryan Dubay[1] (January 11, 1948 – April 15, 2010[1][2]), also known by the pseudonymsWill Richardson, andDube,[3] was an Americancomic-book editor, writer and artist best known as editor and writer forWarren Publishing, including that company'shorror-comics magazinesCreepy,Eerie andVampirella.
DuBay was the first of seven children born to Richard and Dorothy (née Lucas)[4] DuBay,[2] the latest in a multigenerational family line of Lucases, Searses, and Spreckles in San Francisco, California,[5] became interested in comics after an uncle presented him with a gift of comic albums starring theHergé characterTintin.[5] DuBay began in thecomic book field as a fan artist whose work included writing and drawing a backup feature in thefanzineKomix Illustrated in 1964, variously writing and drawing features in the fanzinesFantasy Heroes' Hangout andThe Voice of Comicdom that same year,[3] and drawing the preexistingsuperhero character Powerman in thefanzineStar-Studded Comics No. 9 (July 1966), a black-and-white, newsprint magazine published by Texas Trio. That latter story, "The Crimes of the Transmuter", by writer Dave Bibby, was reprinted in the 1997Hamster Press bookFandom's Finest Comics.
DuBay's earliest credited comic-book works are twosatiric humor stories: the four-page Blooperman story "Bound in the Badcave", written byGary Friedrich and appearing inCharlton Comics'Go-Go No. 4 (Dec. 1966),[6] and the four-page "Adult Super-Hero Daydreams",penciled by DuBay and written by himself andRoy Thomas inNot Brand Echh No. 13 (May 1969).[7] In between, he published a piece of science fiction fan art in the "Creepy Fan Club" section ofWarren Publishing'sCreepy No. 12 (Dec. 1966).
DuBay returned to Warren as a professional with the story "Movie Dissector", written byR. Michael Rosen, inCreepy No. 32 (April 1970).[8] PublisherJames Warren recalled in a 1999 interview, "The first time I saw him. I said, 'You are too young to work for this company, too young to work for anybody. You are a callow youth. You don't even shave yet. Let me see your work.' I took one look and said, 'You're hired.'"[9]
In short order, he began writing stories as well as drawing them, beginning with the four-page "Life Species" inEerie No. 30(Nov. 1970), and then segued from art to become primarily a writer.[7] He became editor of the Warren line withCreepy No. 49 andEerie No. 43 (both Nov. 1972) andVampirella No. 21 (Dec. 1972).[10]
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DuBay, listed as managing editor until being formally credited as editor with the issues cover-dated September 1973, revamped the line by giving the magazines a graphic redesign, dropping fan-participation pages, instituting new features, and creating a unified look and feel. He also presided over the introduction of a stable of freelance artists from Spain, whose illustrative style provided an alternative to that of American comics artists. For a short time in mid-1974, former Warren editorArchie Goodin returned, a hire that had DuBay reassigned to senior editor. When Goodwin departed to work forMarvel Comics, DuBay, beginning with issues cover-dated September 1974, was once more named Warren Publishing's editor.
He continued in that post until being succeeded by writerLouise Jones, initially credited as senior editor beginning with the May 1976 issues; DuBay remained as a freelance contributing editor. After four years, Jones, too, decamped for Marvel. DuBay, who had adopted the pseudonym Will Richardson in the Warren science-fiction anthology1984 No. 11 (Feb. 1980), became editor for a third time, under that pen name, beginning withCreepy No. 117 andVampirella No. 87 (both May 1980) andEerie No. 111 (June 1980).
He was succeeded a year later by Chris Adames, who left after six months to work atArchie Comics. DuBay returned for his fourth run as editor, withTimothy Moriarty as managing editor. Moriarty in turn succeeded DuBay after four months, becoming Warren's final editor upon the company's demise in 1983.
Other Warren magazines DuBay edited includedComix International,1984 (renamed1994 with issue #11),The Rook,The Goblin, andThe Spirit. The final Warren editor, Timothy Moriarty, in 2005 described DuBay as "a volatile guy. Very funny and creative, both on the writing and art ends. Sort of likeBruce Willis, physically and from the way he carried himself. I learned a ton from him, about comic storytelling, writing cover blurbs, composition. We got on well. But toward the end, he was writing, what, 60% of the stories in the comics, and [with] that one style dominating, I felt the comics were getting stale".[11]
DuBay wrote and drew a story for a 1983 issue of the anthological comics magazineHeavy Metal, and then became editor ofArchie Comics' short-lived 1980s superhero line, in which he helped revive the company's 1940s characters, including theBlack Hood and theComet. He then edited the three-issuePacific Comics superhero anthologyBold Adventure (Nov. 1983 – June 1984), and wrote the features "Anaconda" and "The Weirdling".
As he described his 1980s career in a mid-2000s interview,
I was editing several titles forWestern [Publishing] (Popeye,Turok,Yosemite Sam and others), working on a title for Pacific Comics that would keep a few of my old Warren artists busy (Bold Adventure) and had teamed with two partners to open a new magazine company (Ion International) with the intent of producingVideogaming Illustrated andChocolatier magazines, a couple of monthly newsstand titles.Carmine Infantino and I were also collaborating on several new ideas forDC [Comics], as well – one a title that company later used without us,Preacher. ... All this while still running my art studio, The Cartoon Factory.[12]
In 1984, DuBay began a career in animation. That year, he was hired byStan Lee to help build the animation studioMarvel Productions.[13] Later, he and Rook co-creatorBudd Lewis formed Time Castle Books to publish collections and planned graphic novels starring their character.[13]
In the letters section ofFantastic Four No. 25 (April 1964), Dubay was awarded the first Marvel "No-Prize", for having the largest reported comic-book collection among Marvel Comics readers.[14]
In 2003, DuBay was among 58 former Warren freelancers and editors who protested to Robert Fisher, the court-appointed trustee overseeing Warren Communications' involuntaryChapter 7 bankruptcy, that original artwork purchased byHarris Comics was not Warren's to sell.[15]
DuBay was married to Peggy Buckler, sister of comic-book artistRich Buckler.[12] He had five children: Crystal, Lisa, Bill, Daniel, and Leina.[2] Two months before his April 15, 2010, death inPortland, Oregon, DuBay married Venessa Hart.[2]
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