During the 1940s, Sekowsky married his first wife, Joanne Latta.[7] Concurrently, he began a complicated relationship with artistValerie (a.k.a. Violet) Barclay, who was working at theManhattan restaurant Cafe Rouge. As Barclay recalled in a 2004 interview, "I was 17, and ... was making $18 a week as a hostess. Mike said, 'I'll get you a job making $35 a week as a [staff]inker, and you can [additionally] freelance over the weekend. I'll let you ink my stuff'. He went toeditorStan Lee and got me the job. I didn't know anything about inking. [Staff artist]Dave Gantz taught me — just by watching him".[8] Sekowsky bestowed expensive gifts on her even after his marriage to Latta,[9] causing friction in the Timely bullpen, which she left in 1949. She later described the office environment,
Mike was a very good human being. Everybody at Timely liked Mike. Nobody likedme because they thought I was doing a number on him. Which was true.World War II was on and there were no men around, so I just killed time with him. Everybody, Dave Gantz especially, picked up on that. ... [Mike] once tried to get me fired over my fling with [Timely artist]George Klein. Mike went to Stan Lee and said, 'Stan, I want her fired, and if she doesn't get fired, I'm going to quit'. Well, you couldn't ever tell Stan Lee what to do. Stan said, 'Well, Mike, it's been nice knowing you'.[9]
Sekowsky, one of the nascent Marvel Comics' mainstays, chose to remain and "make George's life hell",[10] Barclay said in 2004. She further described, "I was married before I met Mike, but my husband's divorce was not final. ... [I] had to go to court and get an annulment. Mike paid for it and it cost $350".[11]
Sekowsky married his second wife, Josephine, called Pat, in October 1967.[22]
Sekowsky and writerBob Haney introducedB'wana Beast inShowcase #66 (Feb. 1967).[23] In 1968, Sekowsky became the penciler ofMetal Men. The following year, Sekowsky also became the writer and changed the direction of the series by having the Metal Men assume human identities. The series was canceled six issues later.[3]
At roughly the same time, Sekowsky began working onWonder Woman with issue #178 (Sept.-Oct. 1968),[24] first as artist and then as writer and editor, until issue #196. His run on the series included a variety of themes, from espionage to mythological adventure. He contributed a story about Wonder Woman and Batman toThe Brave and the Bold.[3] Comics historian Mark Voger has praised Sekowsky's work from this era by noting "More than any other artist then working for DC Comics, Sekowsky...captured the look and sensibility of the late 1960s."[25]
Sekowsky wrote and drew features for the series-tryout comic-book seriesShowcase during the last three years of its run. This included "The Maniaks" inShowcase #68–69 (June–August 1967) and #71 (December 1967)[26] and "Jason's Quest", an adventure series about a young man on a motorcycle searching for his family, inShowcase #88–90 (Feb.–May 1970).[3] He became the writer/artist of theSupergirl feature inAdventure Comics as of issue #397 (Sept. 1970) and frequently disregardedcontinuity by scripting stories which contradicted DC'scanon.[27]
Upon leaving DC, Sekowsky returned to Marvel, where he had gotten his start in the 1940s. From 1971 to 1975, he sporadically provided penciling for stories inAmazing Adventures vol. 2, featuring theInhumans; andGiant-SizeSuper-Villain Team-Up.[3]
Sekowsky and writerGreg Weisman planned aBlack Canary miniseries in 1984 for DC Comics. After the first issue was pencilled, the projectwent unpublished due to the character being used in writer/artistMike Grell'sGreen Arrow: The Longbow Hunters series. Elements were used for Weisman'sDC Showcase: Green Arrow short film.[28] Sekowsky returned toJustice League of America to pencil a flashback tale in issue #240 (July 1985), which featured the Justice League from his era.[29]
For the last decade of his life, Sekowsky lived in Los Angeles and worked primarily onHanna-Barberaanimated television series, includingScooby-Doo. After hospitalization with health problems stemming fromdiabetes, he began freelancing for publisherDaerrick Gross, who was developing a line of skateboard and ninja comics. Sekowsky died before he could complete the assignment.[30]
^Irvine, Alex; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1950s".DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 91.ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9.Adam Strange debuted in a three-issue trial starting withShowcase #17, which was written by Gardner Fox and featured art by Mike Sekowsky.{{cite book}}:|first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^McAvennie, Michael "1960s" in Dolan, p. 99: "Editor Julius Schwartz had repopulated the [superhero] subculture by revitalizing Golden Age icons like Green Lantern and the Flash ... He recruited writer Gardner Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky, and together they came up with the Justice League of America, a modern version of the legendary Justice Society of America from the 1940s."
^McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 105: "In a tale written by Gardner Fox, with art by Mike Sekowsky, Dr. Light's first [story] was almost the JLA's last."
^McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 109: "The two-part 'Crisis on Earth-One!' and 'Crisis on Earth-Two!' saga represented the first use of the term 'Crisis' in crossovers, as well as the designations 'Earth-1' and 'Earth-2'. In it editor Julius Schwartz, [writer Gardner] Fox, and artist Mike Sekowsky devised a menace worthy of the World's Greatest Heroes."
^McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 112: "Writer Gardner Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky crafted a tale in which the Crime Syndicate ... ambushed the JLA on Earth-1."
^Alter Ego #33, interview with wife Pat Sekowsky, p. 9
^McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 123: "Africa found itself a helmeted, loinclothed champion of mammals when scribe Bob Haney and artist Mike Sekowsky presented B'wana Beast."
^McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan p. 131 "Carmine Infantino wanted to rejuvenate what had been perceived as a tired Wonder Woman, so he assigned writer Denny O'Neil and artist Mike Sekowsky to convert the Amazon Princess into a secret agent. Wonder Woman was made over into an Emma Peel type and what followed was arguably the most controversial period in the hero's history."
^Voger, Mark (2017). "Art".Groovy: When Flower Power Bloomed in Pop Culture. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 105.ISBN978-1605490809.
^Abramowitz, Jack (December 2013). "Adventure Comics #400 ... Really?".Back Issue! (69). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing:22–24.
^Wells, John (February 2011). "Failure to Launch: The Black Canary Miniseries That Never Took Flight".Back Issue! (46). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing:45–52.
^Busiek, Kurt (w), Sekowsky, Mike (p), Mandrake, Tom (i). "The Future Ain't What It Used to Be" Justice League of America, no. 240 (July 1985).
^Paragraph information perAlter Ego Pat Sekowsky interview, pp. 5-7
