Mike Mignola

Mignola was born in Berkeley, California. He began his career in 1980 by illustrating spots in The Comic Reader. His first published piece was in The Comic Reader #183, a spot illustration of Red Sonja (pg. 9). His first published front cover was The Comic Reader #196 in November 1981. In 1982 he graduated from the California College of the Arts with a BFA in Illustration. In 1983 he worked as an inker at Marvel Comics on Daredevil and Power Man and Iron Fist and later became the penciler on titles such as The Incredible Hulk, Alpha Flight, and the Rocket Raccoon limited series. In 1987, he began working for DC Comics as well. He drew the Phantom Stranger and World of Krypton limited series. With writer Jim Starlin, Mignola produced the Cosmic Odyssey miniseries in 1988. Mignola drew covers for several Batman stories, including "Batman: A Death in the Family" and "Dark Knight, Dark City". Writer Brian Augustyn and Mignola crafted the Gotham by Gaslight one-shot in 1989. In an early 2000s interview, Mignola was asked if his 1988 cover art and cover text for Batman #428 anticipated the telephone vote for the death of the second Robin (Jason Todd). Mignola responded: "It's so amazing to me that people are still talking about that damn thing. I didn't know if he was going to live or die, because I did the cover ahead of time. So the idea was: I'll draw him dead, and if he lives, then it's just a cover of him being badly hurt. I've gotta say---I don't think I was giving it a lot of thought. I never imagined I'd be talking about it all these years later." When asked if fans continued to question him about that cover, he replied, "You know, it does crop up. When people talk about my career, that is one of the covers that a lot of people kind of go back to. I wish I had something profound to say about it. But at the time, it was just another job." In contrast, Mignola did not address his cover illustration of the Joker, and the accompanying cover text, for Batman #429. His visual depiction of the Joker anticipated prospective advertisements for his work in Gotham by Gaslight, yet the cover text still adhered to the "Death in the Family" storyline. This Elseworlds Joker is only briefly discussed in Gotham by Gaslight as a man who married ten wealthy widows, poisoned all ten with strychnine, and then ingested the poison himself when police attempted an arrest, resulting in partial facial paralysis. Mignola included a black-and-white police sketch in Gotham by Gaslight that did not replicate his Batman #429 cover art, choosing instead to root that Elseworlds incarnation of the Joker in Conrad Veidt's 1928 portrayal of Gwynplaine for The Man Who Laughs. A scene from Tim Burton's Batman, released in June 1989 (United States), additionally featured Jack Nicholson's Joker in a top hat, but without a monocle. Two years later, Jack Shaheen published an assessment of Islamophobia pervasive in Jim Starlin's plot and Jim Aparo's interior pencils for "Death in the Family," particularly Batman #429, which prompted debates over Mignola's intentions. Through the early 1990s Mignola worked on covers and backup features for various DC and Marvel Comics. He collaborated twice with writer Howard Chaykin. In 1990–1991, they produced the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser limited series for Epic Comics, with inker Al Williamson. This was followed with the Ironwolf: Fires of the Revolution graphic novel in 1992.