- Mike W. Barr
-
For other people named Mike Barr, see Mike Barr (disambiguation).
Mike W. Barr Born May 30, 1952 Nationality American Area(s) Writer Pseudonym(s) Mike Barr Notable works Batman and the Outsiders
Camelot 3000
Maze AgencyMike W. Barr (born May 30, 1952) is an American writer of comic books, and mystery, and science fiction novels.
Contents
Biography
Barr's debut as a comics professional came in DC Comics' Detective Comics #444 (Dec. 1974-Jan. 1975), for which he wrote an 8-page back-up mystery feature starring the Elongated Man. Another Elongated Man story followed in Detective Comics #453 (November 1975). He wrote text articles and editorial replies in letter columns for the next few years. By mid-1980 he was writing regularly for both DC and Marvel, including stories for Marvel Team-Up, Mystery in Space, Green Lantern, and various Batman titles.
Legion of Super-Heroes #277 (July 1981) saw him take on editorial duties at DC, while writing issues of DC's Star Trek comic, for whom he created the native American character Ensign Bearclaw and a pacifist Klingon named Konom.[1] In December 1982, he and artist Brian Bolland began Camelot 3000,[2] a 12 issue limited series that was one of DC Comics' first direct market projects. When the long running The Brave and the Bold series came to its conclusion with issue #200 (July 1983), it featured a preview of a new Batman series, Batman and the Outsiders by Barr and artist Jim Aparo,[3] which would be described by DC Comics writer and executive Paul Levitz as being "a team series more fashionable to 1980s audiences."[4] Barr wrote every issue of the original series, and its Baxter paper spinoff, The Outsiders.
His other comics work includes Mantra and Maze Agency as well as the 1987 OGN hardcover book Batman: Son of the Demon (with art by Jerry Bingham), proceeds from which reputedly "restored DC Comics to first place in sales after fifteen years."[5] This title, and Barr's work on Batman with artist Alan Davis have been cited by Grant Morrison as key inspirations for his recent (2006) run on the Batman title.[6]
In 2007, he wrote a two-part story for the pages of DC's JLA: Classified (#47-48, Jan-Feb 2008), returned to the Outsiders with Outsiders: Five of a Kind—Katana/Shazam #1 (Oct 2007), contributed to Tokyopop's Star Trek: The Manga, and relaunched Maze Agency at IDW Publishing.
He has also scripted many of Bongo Comics' Simpsons titles, including a Christmas story for 2010.
In May 2010, the Invisible College Press published Barr's science fiction/fantasy novel, Majician/51, about the discoveries of a scientist working at Area 51.
Non-comics
FantasticFiction notes that:
"Mike W. Barr has written [for] every one of the first four incarnations of Star Trek: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager -- in either comic book or other formats." It is also pointed out that Barr's Batman stories and scripts have been adapted into several mediums, including for episodes of Batman: The Animated Series.[5]
References
- ^ Dave's Long Box: Star Trek, comments by "Tom Bondurant" and "Bully". Accessed March 20, 2008
- ^ Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1980s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 199. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. "Writer Mike W. Barr and artist Brian Bolland pushed the limits of the conventional comic book with Camelot 3000. DC Comics' first foray into the realm of the maxiseries, Camelot 3000 was a twelve-issue story printed on vibrant Baxter paper that showcased Bolland's realistic artwork."
- ^ "Despite being the final issue of this particular series, the book wasn't closed on Batman's team-ups. Although Batman was through working with partners, it was time to think bigger, and in a special sixteen-page preview insert written by Barr and with art by Jim Aparo, the Outsiders debuted. A super-hero team of Batman's own creation, the Outsiders would soon star alongside Batman in the new monthly series Batman and the Outsiders. Manning p. 202
- ^ Levitz, Paul (2010). 75 Years of DC Comics The Art of Modern Mythmaking. Taschen America. p. 462. ISBN 9783836519816.
- ^ a b Mike W. Barr at FantasticFiction. Accessed March 20, 2008
- ^ Morrison in the Cave: Grant Morrison talks Batman, 23 August 2006. Accessed March 20, 2008
External links
- Mike Barr and Mike W. Barr at the Grand Comics Database
- Mike W. Barr at the Comic Book DB
Categories:- 1952 births
- Living people
- American comics writers
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
