William Francis Messner-Loebs (/ˈmɛznərˈloʊbz/;[1] born William Francis Loebs, Jr.,[2] February 19, 1949)[3] is an Americancomics artist and writer from Michigan, also known as Bill Loebs and Bill Messner-Loebs. His hyphenated surname is a combination of his and his wife Nadine's unmarried surnames.
William Messner-Loebs
Messner-Loebs in 2007
Born
William Francis Loebs, Jr. (1949-02-19) February 19, 1949 (age 75) Ferndale, Michigan, U.S.
William Messner-Loebs was born in Ferndale, Michigan.[4] His right arm was amputated above the shoulder in infancy because of a cancerous tumor;[5] he writes and draws with his left hand.
Loebs was a friend of Kevin Siembieda, and played in Siembieda's role-playing group in Detroit; in 1981, his mother Frances (Schepeler) Loebs loaned Siembieda the money to start publishing role-playing books for his company Palladium Books.[6]
His first comics work was for Power Comics Company[7] and on Noble Comics' Justice Machine with Mike Gustovich. His first ongoing series was Journey: The Adventures of Wolverine MacAlistaire, about 19th-century Michigan frontier life, which he both wrote and illustrated.[5] It was published from 1983 to 1986 by Aardvark-Vanaheim and Fantagraphics, followed by a limited series Journey: Wardrums. He wrote the 31-issue Jonny Quest series published by Comico from 1986 to 1988[8] and collaborated with artist Adam Kubert on the Jezebel Jade limited series, a spin-off from the Jonny Quest series.[9]
In 1988, he began writing The Flash with issue #15 and continued through #61. He and artist Greg LaRocque introduced Linda Park as a supporting character in the series in The Flash vol. 2 #28 (July 1989).[10] He also reintroduced the Pied Piper as a reformed villain and established the character as gay, in issue #53 (Aug. 1991).[11]
In 2005, following years of limited freelance work and the loss of his and his wife's home in the early 2000s, Messner-Loebs's financial condition was publicized in the local newspaper and comics news sites and Internet message boards.[15][16] Author Clifford Meth teamed up with artist Neal Adams to create a benefit auction to help Messner-Loebs.[17] The two also created an art tribute book entitled Heroes & Villains with all proceeds aiding Messner-Loebs.[2]
His financial situation improved somewhat, and he had a number of works published, including an issue of Green Arrow in 2005,[8] and several pieces in The Three Tenors (Aardwolf Publishing), which he shared credits for along with Clifford Meth and artist Dave Cockrum. A new "Journey" story was included in the one-shot Many Happy Returns in 2008, and IDW Publishing reprinted the original material in paperback. He has done writing for Boom! Studios, including the four-issue Necronomicon[18][19] and stories for Zombie Tales. He has done illustration work for the 2007 humor book Chicken Wings for the Beer Drinker's Soul and a monthly cartoon for the Livingston [County, MI] Parent Journal. In 2008, he discussed additional, more substantial new works with various publishers.[20] In 2011, he wrote the DC Retroactive: The Flash – The '80s and DC Retroactive: Wonder Woman – The '90s one-shots.[21]
As of early 2018, William Messner-Loebs and his wife have continued to struggle financially, with Messner-Loebs working two part-time positions in Michigan.[22] In 2019, he co-wrote, with Amy Chu, issues #3–5 of the limited series Kiss: The End for Dynamite Entertainment, and contributed to an independent comic book anthology called YEET Presents.[23]
In September 2020, William Messner-Loebs was named Project Editor for Resurgence Comics.[24][25]
^ abMeth, Clifford, ed. (2005). Heroes and Villains: The William Messner-Loebs Benefit Sketchbook. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 96. ISBN 978-1893905528.
^Stroud, Bryan D. (August 2016). "William Messner-Loebs and Adam Kubert Discuss Jezebel Jade". Back Issue! (90). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 68–75.
^Cronin, Brian (October 26, 2014). "Almost Hidden – William Messner-Loebs' Run on Flash". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 13, 2015. He introduced Linda Park, which is likely his most significant contribution to the Flash mythos.
^Cronin, Brian (August 8, 2011). "Almost Hidden - The Pied Piper Comes Out of the Closet". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on June 18, 2017. We gained one of the few openly gay superhero supporting characters in DC Comics History in 1991's Flash #53, written by William Messner-Loebs and drawn by Greg LaRocque and Jose Marzan Jr.
^Greenberger, Robert; Manning, Matthew K. (2009). The Batman Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the Batcave. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-7624-3663-7. Shortly after the 1989 feature [film], Batman even returned to the funny pages for a bit, in a comic strip by writer William Messner-Loebs...Lacking enough support from various papers to make it financially feasible, the new comic strip folded after two years, despite Carmine Infantino trying his hand at its art chores.
^Manning, Matthew K. (2010). "1990s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
^Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 267: "Hawkman fought a new string of dark adventures with the help of writer William Messner-Loebs and artist Steve Lieber."
^Brady, Matt (January 30, 2005). "Bill Messner-Loebs: Down but Not Out". Newsarama. Archived from the original on March 6, 2005.
^Meth, Clifford (2005). "Past Masters: Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Fanboys". Silver Bullet Comics. Archived from the original on July 28, 2006.
^"Clifford Meth and Neal Adams Tag-Team for Messner-Loebs". Comics Bulletin. February 23, 2005. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
^Manning, Shaun (June 2, 2008). "William Messner-Loebs Opens the Necronomicon". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016.
^Brady, Matt (June 4, 2008). "Waid & Loebs Talk About The Necronomicon". Newsarama. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016.
^Krug, Kurt Anthony (November 21, 2008). "Support from friends helps turn things around for artist". Grand Rapids, Michigan: MLive.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
^Goellner, Caleb (April 1, 2011). "DC announces Retroactive one-shots". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on July 1, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
^Kevra, Derek (March 27, 2018). "One-armed comic book artist worked on Wonder Woman, now homeless in Michigan". Detroit, Michigan: WJBK-TV. Archived from the original on March 27, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
^Cronin, Brian (May 12, 2020). "Comic Legends: Why Did The Flash Lose His Lottery Winnings?". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2020. If you just want to see some more recent Bill Loebs goodness, check out Yeet Presents here, who have been working with Bill recently, with a brand-new Wolverine Macalistaire story appearing in YEET Presents #33
^"MULTIPLE AWARD-WINNING WRITER AND ARTIST JOINS RESURGENCE COMICS' LEAGUE OF LEGENDARY CREATIVES". Resurgence Comics on Facebook. 2020-09-05.
^Madriaga, Mike (July 17, 2019). "Homeless at the Con". San Diego Reader. Archived from the original on July 26, 2019.
^"Inkpot Award Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012.
^ ab"1987 Jack Kirby Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012.
^"1989 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019.
^"Past Winners of the GLAAD Media Awards". GLAAD. Archived from the original on June 28, 2001. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
^"Bill Finger Award Recipients". Comics Continuum. Archived from the original on June 16, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)