| Michael Eury | |
|---|---|
 Eury at the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in September 2019 | |
| Born | (1957-09-28)September 28, 1957 (age 68) |
| Nationality | American |
| Area | Editor, Publisher |
Notable works | Amazing Heroes Captain Action Adventures of the Mask Back Issue! |
| Awards | 2016Eisner Award[1] 2011 Spirit of HLAA Award[2] |
Michael "Mike"Eury (born September 28, 1957) is an editor and writer ofcomic books, and ofreference works pertaining to comic books and other aspects ofpop culture. He has worked forDC Comics,[3]Dark Horse Comics[4] andComico Comics, having worked on books includingMaze Agency andThe Legion of Super-Heroes, originating practices such as theloose leaf format of DC'sWho's Who in the DC Universe reference series.[5]
In 2002 he began workin forTwoMorrows Publishing, and since 2003, has edited the retrospective magazineBack Issue![6][7] He is also an advisor for theOverstreet Comic Book Price Guide,[8] and as of 2018[update], he has written over two dozen books examining aspects of pop culture.[9]
Eury was diagnosed withotosclerosis in 1994, and wears dualhearing aids. He is an advocate for the rights of people withhearing loss.[2]
Michael Eury was born September 28, 1957.[10] He grew up inConcord, North Carolina.[1][11]
Eury first became interested in comics characters at age eight, when he watched the January 12, 1966, premiere of theBatman television series. Eury related:
"It was brand new and I had never seen anything like it.... Batman popularized superheroes. I got sucked into it and it was camp, it was satire. That's why it was so successful for a while – because it was part of thiscamp movement of the '60's where stuff was supposedly knowingly bad, so bad that it's good. It was so over the top, but kids like me believed it. I see that today, some of these actors who play these characters in the movies and they'll go to children's hospitals in costume and when they're around kids, you'll see the kids' looks of wide-eyed amazement".[1]
Eury, who always enjoyed writing, described when he was inspired to become a comics industry professional in a 2019 interview, saying, "I was in the eighth grade with an algebra book in hand and had a Superman comic inside. I was reading theindicia – I read the fine print and saw the words,Julius Schwartz, Editor, and I'm thinking, this would be a cool job. That was in the early 70's. I wanted to do that, but when I was graduating high school, there wasn't any way to learn how to do that."[1]
In college, Eury majored inMusic Education, and minored in English.[12]
In 1986, Eury and his wife moved from toWilmington, Delaware, where he wrote a local newspaper. During his time there, he submitted an article toFantagraphics' comics industry trade journalAmazing Heroes. The submission was accepted,[1] seeing print that year as Eury's first published work.[1][13] The piece was a review of theBatman TV series that Eury wrote for editorMark Waid, with whom Eury had previously worked for anamateur press association (AMA).[13] Eury then began writing for them regularly, and interviewed various Marvel and DC editors, writers, and artists that he interviewed. Through these contacts, he was alerted to job opportunities for those publishers. He pursued one of these openings atComico inNorristown, Pennsylvania, to which Eury and wife moved[1] in 1988, so that Eury could joint Comico's staff. He remained with that publisher until 1989, at which point he moved toDC Comics,[14] which he described as his "dream job."[2]
At DC, Eury began as an editor, and within eight months wasDick Giordano's assistant.[6][15] In 1992, he resigned from DC due to interpersonal conflicts, which he attributes largely to his then-undiagnosedhearing loss,[15] which he said some of his colleagues perceived as a weakness.[2] In 1993, he began work atDark Horse Comics as an editor, but left in 1995 for the same reasons.[2][15]
In 2002, Eury began work forTwoMorrows Publishing,[5][7] writingCaptain Action: The Original Super-Hero Action Figure (2002), a guidebook to the characterCaptain Action;Dick Giordano: Changing Comics, One Day at a Time (2003); andThe Justice League Companion (2005).[7] His initial success with these books led to his founding ofBack Issue! in 2003, on which she serves as editor,[6] and other reference works for TwoMorrows, includingThe Krypton Companion andTheJustice League Companion.The Krypton Companion, a 2006 exploration of theSilver Age Superman, was praised byReason magazine senior editor Brian Doherty, who said, "Historians of American culture owe Eury and his indefatigible publisher TwoMorrows a debt of gratitude for their relentless interviewing and documenting a part of American cultural life that's still an engine of enormous wealth-creation for our proud American megaconglomerates, and still a modern myth of great entertainment value in all its glory and absurdity, all its workmanlike repetition and fershlugginer imagination, all itsLois Lanes andKryptos andLegion of Superheroes."[16] Geoff Willmetts of SFcrowsnest also lauded the book, saying of the 235-page softcover, "This is a long read and you'll certainly get your money's worth."[17]
In May 2017 TwoMorrows published Eury's retrospective bookHero-A-Go-Go: Campy Comic Books, Crimefighters, & Culture of the Sixties. The book examines various elements of pop culture from the titular decade, including the popularity of the 1966Batman television series,Hanna-Barbera's animated cartoons, and the popular music of the area by bands such asThe Beatles andThe Monkees,[3][9] as well as the comics of the era.[5] The book was positively reviewed by K.C. Carlson of Comics Worth Reading, who praised Eury for having "unearthed huge, heaping amounts of previously seldom-discussed details about some of the more obscure and esoteric comic books in history, as well as new interviews with many of the still-living creators/survivors."[3][9]
In June 2018, Eury launched the magazineRetroFan,[9][11] which examines various aspects of the pop culture of 1960s to the 1980s, including material similar to that spotlighted byHero-A-Go-Go, such as Saturday morning children's programming, popular music, and the spy films of the era. Eury had discussed the idea with TwoMorrows publisher John Morrow in 2012, but with his mother's health in decline at the time, Eury was unable to commit to another project. By 2017, she had died, and Eury, having refamiliarized himself with retro pop culture in researchingHero-A-Go-Go, decided the time was right to launch a magazine dedicated to what he called "The Crazy Cool Culture We Grew Up With".[9] Initial columnists on the magazine includedMartin Pasko,Andy Mangels, andScott Shaw, and its debut issue featured articles on topics includingThe Phantom of Hollywood,Star Trek: The Animated Series,Mego Corporation's rare ElasticThe Incredible Hulk toy, theNorth Carolina town believed to have been the basis for the fictionalMayberry inThe Andy Griffith Show, andMr. Microphone, as well as an interview withAndy Griffith Show alumnaBetty Lynn. The second issue, which was Halloween-themed, featured articles onGroovie Goolies,Ben Cooper, Inc. Halloween costumes, and an interview with horror hostElvira: Mistress of the Dark.[11]
Eury has publicly discussed his struggle with adult onsethearing loss. He received his first hearing aid in 1994, and one for his other ear in 2001.[2] In a 2019 interview, he stated "I hit rock bottom. I was depressed, angry, and got so mad at God that I threw my Bible in the trashcan. I really felt forsaken."[1] Eury revealed that he had a profound spiritual epiphany on October 10, 2004, the day that Eury's "absolute hero",Superman actorChristopher Reeve, had died, nine years after having sustained permanentparalysis in an accident. Eury related:[1][2]
"I'm absolutely convinced that I was touched by his Angel. I think God used him to send me a message because I had been broken. I was so moved by his example. He spent nine years in his wheelchair. He couldn't take a breath without a respirator, he couldn't move his arms, much less his legs, but still, he did so many things for other people as an advocate for people with spinal-cord injuries. That day I stopped bellyaching why me? and I instead asked what do I do next? It led me to the Hearing Loss Association of American, which then led me to community involvement. What a great blessing...and that's my superpower."[1]
In 2005, Eury joined the Oregon chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America,[1][2] which provided Eury with communication strategies and a sense of community that enabled him to cope with the sense of isolation that initially resulted from his hearing loss.[1] He eventually became the chapter's program director, and subsequently its President of theLake Oswego, Oregon chapter. In 2006, he joined the state's board of trustees and edited the Oregon HLA's chapter's newsletter. When he moved back to North Carolina in 2007, he joined that state's HLA board of directors. He became its president in 2008, continuing in that role as of 2011.[2]
Eury decided to become a public speaker on the affliction, for which he appeared on the cover of the Summer 2011 edition ofHLAA magazine, which depicted him transforming into Superman.[1] In 2010, Eury created a leadership-training program in North Carolina called Invisible No More, which helps people with hearing loss deal with the condition in a positive manner, and trains them to educate others. The program eventually sought out beneficiaries across the United States. On June 19, 2011, Eury attended the HLAA's Annual Awards Breakfast and Ceremony in Washington, D.C., where he was one of five individuals who received the Spirit of HLAA Award, for his work with the Invisible No More program.[2]
In October 2019, he was the guest speaker for the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) chapter based inNew Bern, North Carolina, where he lives.[1]
In 1984, Eury auditioned to be a singing telegram delivery person for Monkey Business Singing Telegrams, and was hired by that business's manager, Rose Rummel. The two eventually married and in 1986, they moved fromCharlotte, North Carolina toWilmington, Delaware, where they lived until Eury got a job withComico inNorristown, Pennsylvania.[1]
In 2007, the Eurys moved back to his childhood home of Concord,[2] where he became the executive director of the Cabarrus County History Museum, and curated exhibits at the local Veterans Museum.[1][2]
In 2018, afterHurricane Florence damaged parts of Eastern North Carolina, where Eury and Rose, now a writer, had lived, they moved toNew Bern, North Carolina, where Eury's mother and uncle grew up.[1]
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