| Howard Mackie | |
|---|---|
 Mackie at the 2022Phoenix Fan Fusion | |
| Born | (1958-01-22)January 22, 1958 (age 68) |
| Area | Writer, Editor |
Notable works | Ghost Rider,Spider-Man |
Howard Mackie (born January 22, 1958)[1] is an American comic book editor and writer. He has worked almost exclusively forMarvel Comics and is best known as the co-creator of theDanny Ketch version of theGhost Rider character.
Mackie grew up inCypress Hills, Brooklyn, mostly raised by his mother, as his father died when he was seven.[2]
Mackie started his career in comics in 1984 as an assistant editor forMark Gruenwald.[3][4] Early in Mackie's career, arunning gag in Gruenwald's columns was that Mackie was a mysterious figure whose face no one at Marvel had ever seen.[5] Promoted in early 1987 to Managing Editor of Special Projects,[3] Mackie then oversaw Marvel's "New Universe" line.
Mackie first gained attention as a writer in 1990, when he and artistJavier Saltares launched a newGhost Rider series for Marvel, revamping the character and introducing a new host,Danny Ketch.[6] The series "made my rep. writing comics" Mackie later said.[7] Mackie wroteGhost Rider until issue #69 (Jan. 1996). He authored two Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher team-up one-shots,Hearts of Darkness (1991) and its sequelThe Dark Design (1994).
Mackie became the writer ofWeb of Spider-Man with #84 (Jan. 1992). He would remain on variousSpider-Man titles through theClone Saga.[8] In January 1999, Mackie became the writer of bothThe Amazing Spider-Man[9] and thePeter Parker: Spider-Man series[10] when those two titles were relaunched with new first issues. Mackie left the Spider-Man franchise withThe Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2, #29 (May 2001).
After seeing the unexpectedly high sales figures forHearts of Darkness, theX-Men editorBob Harras began coaxing Mackie to write for the X-Men family of titles.[7] Mackie's work on the X-Men line included writing the spin-off titleX-Factor from #115–149 (1995–1998) as well as its successor titleMutant X (1998–2001).[11] He wrote severalmini-series featuringGambit,[12] Wolverine, andRogue.[13] Mackie also wroteThe Brotherhood under the guise of Writer X. The series ran for nine issues from 2001–2002.
In late 2009, Mackie teamed withTom DeFalco to write the six issue miniseriesSpider-Man: Clone Saga, whose story was based on Mackie's original notes for the 1990s crossover. It was later collected in the trade paperbackSpider-Man: The Real Clone Saga.
Mackie wroteThe Ravagers series forDC Comics in 2012 as part of the "Second Wave" ofThe New 52, DC's 2011 reboot of its entire line of monthly comics, and the continuity in which those books were set.[14]
Though he has often been required to write using thefull script method, Mackie said that his preference has always been for theMarvel method, commenting that "full script ... means that the writer is dictating to the artist. This seems like an assbackwards way of doing things. Artists have a sense of storytelling that they bring to the project. That's what it should be from my personal experience. [The Marvel method] gave me more story to play with. Just the little things. What I refer to as the happy accidents. Things that I didn't necessarily ask for in the plot. All of a sudden it's on the page."[7]
Popular writer Howard Mackie and penciller Javier Saltares had a sensation on their hands when they created Daniel Ketch, the second man to wear the mantle of the supernatural Ghost Rider.
| Preceded by n/a | Ghost Rider vol. 2 writer 1990–1996 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Web of Spider-Man writer 1992–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Terry Kavanagh | Spider-Man/Peter Parker: Spider-Man writer 1994–1998 | Succeeded by n/a |
| Preceded by | X-Factor writer 1995–1998 | Succeeded by n/a |
| Preceded by n/a | The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 writer 1999–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by n/a | Peter Parker: Spider-Man vol. 2 writer 1999–2000 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
