Michael Fleisher
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael "Mike" Fleisher is an American comic book writer. He came to the attention of Joe Orlando whilst working on comic book encyclopedias and subsequently got solid work throughout the seventies and eighties. After a failed lawsuit he worked for 2000 AD for a number of years in the early nineties before largely leaving the industry.
He is probably best known for writing DC's Jonah Hex character for almost ten years - first between 1977-1985 in Jonah Hex, a series set in the character's original wild west setting and then in the Hex series (1985-1987) which transposed the character into a sci-fi setting following the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series.
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[edit] Controversy
Harlan Ellison, in a 1979 Comics Journal interview, described Fleisher and his comics work using emphatic terms such as "crazy", "certifiable", "twisted", "derange-o", "bugfuck", and "lunatic". Opinions varied as to whether Ellison's comments were entirely unflattering. For years Ellison and his friend Isaac Asimov had been comedically abusing each other in print and public in a similar style. Thick-skinned readers interpreted the comments as rhetorical backwards compliments and affectionately begrudging curses of Fleisher's singular talent for the macabre, similar to comments at a roast.
But a "devastated and appalled" Fleisher believed Ellison had been recklessly and falsely implying Fleisher himself was insane.
Fleisher sued Ellison, The Comics Journal, and interviewer Gary Groth, for libel, asking $2,000,000 in damages; the case came to court in 1986, and Fleisher lost.
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] Comics
Comics work includes:
- House of Mystery (DC Comics, 1972-1978)
- House of Secrets (DC Comics, 1973-1977)
- Adventure Comics (DC Comics, 1974-1975)
- Sandman (DC Comics, 1975-1976)
- Jonah Hex (DC Comics, 1977-1985)
- Captain America (Marvel Comics, 1979-1980)
- Spider-Woman #21-32 (Marvel Comics, 1979-1980)
- Ghost Rider (Marvel Comics, 1979-1982)
- Creepy (Warren Publishing, 1980-1983)
- The Amazing Spider-Man #220 (Marvel Comics, 1981)
- Conan the Barbarian (Marvel Comics, 1983-1985)
- Hex (DC Comics, 1985-1987)
- Warlord (DC Comics, 1985-1989)
- Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (DC Comics, 1989)
- Junker (with John Ridgway)
- "Junker Part 1" (in 2000 AD #708-716, 1990-1991)
- "Junker Part 2" (in 2000 AD #724-730, 1991)
- Rogue Trooper: "The Arena of Long Knives" (with Kev Walker, in 2000 AD Yearbook 1992, 1991)
- Rogue Trooper (Friday):
- "Circus Daze" (with John Hicklenton, in Rogue Trooper Annual 1991, 1990)
- "Golden Fox Rebellion" (with Ron Smith, in 2000 AD #712-723, 1991)
- "Saharan Ice Belt War" (with Simon Coleby, in 2000 AD #730-741, 1991)
- "Apocalypse Dreadnought" (with Ron Smith, in 2000 AD #780-791, 1992)
- "Scavenger of Souls Prologue" (with Simon Coleby, in 2000 AD #850-851, 1993)
- "Scavenger of Souls" (with Chris Weston, in 2000 AD #873-880, 1994)
- Harlem Heroes: "Cyborg Death Trip" (with Siku in 2000 AD #928-939, 1995)
[edit] Collections
- Wrath of the Spectre (200 pages, June 2005, ISBN 1401204740)
- Showcase Presents Jonah Hex Volume 1 (with Tony DeZuniga, Doug Wildey, José Luís Garcia-López and others, 526 pages, November 2005, ISBN 140120760X)
- Essential Spider-Woman Volume 1 (collects Marvel Spotlight #32, Marvel Two-In-One #29-33 and Spider-Woman #1-25, 576 pages, December 2005, ISBN 0785117938)
[edit] Books
- The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes Volume One: Batman (Collier Books, 1976, ISBN 0020800908)
- The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes Volume Two: Wonder Woman
- The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes Volume Three: Superman (aka The Great Superman Book) (Random House Value Publishing, 1988, hardback ISBN 0517536773, paperback ISBN 0446874949)
