Mike Friedrich (; born March 27, 1949)
His notable works include runs as the regular writer of DC's Justice League of America and Marvel's Iron Man.
Biography
Early life and career
Mike Friedrich, who is unrelated to fellow Silver Age of Comics writer
Gary Friedrich, entered comics professionally after years of writing to DC letter columns in the 1960s and developing a mail acquaintanceship with the famously responsive editor
Julius Schwartz. "My letter-writing began around the time the 'new look'
Batman was introduced, though I'd been a fan of Julie's for two or three years before then. A couple of years later it turned into a bit of correspondence as Julie began to send short replies," Friedrich recalled.
[Text of Mike Friedrich statements at ] Schwartz, after rejecting an
Elongated Man story Friedrich submitted, bought Friedrich's first professional script on May 10, 1967, a 10-page Robin backup story ("Menace of the Motorcycle Marauders",
drawn by
penciler Chic Stone and
inker Joe Giella) and eventually published in
Batman #202 (
June 1968) as Friedrich's third published comics story.
Friedrich used the $10-per-page payment to visit New York City the following month, after his high school graduation, and took a DC Comics tour in order to meet Schwartz in person. "That first summer," Friedrich recalled, "he worked with me on a handful of scripts, including the one that was first to be published, The Spectre #3" (April 1968; reprinted in Adventure Comics Digest #496, Feb. 1983),
DC and Marvel Comics
Friedrich quickly began writing stories for a number of DC publications, including
Challengers of the Unknown,
Detective Comics,
The Flash and
Teen Titans. With
penciler Jerry Grandenetti in
Showcase #80 (Feb. 1969), he reintroduced the supernatural-mystery story narrator the
Phantom Stranger, created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino in 1952.
He wrote the 30th anniversary Batman story in
Detective Comics #387 (May 1969) which was drawn by Bob Brown.
[Forbeck "1960s" in Dougall, p. 101: "The main story, written by Mike Friedrich and drawn by Bob Brown, celebrated Batman's 30th anniversary by updating the first Batman story from."] Friedrich's first extended run on a title was on the
superhero-team series
Justice League of America from #86–99 (Dec. 1970 – June 1972); in the story "The Most Dangerous Dreams of All" in issue #89 (May 1971), he himself makes a cameo appearance and breaks the
fourth wall at a time when such experimentation in the mainstream was rare. He had previously scripted "His Name Is... Kane", in
House of Mystery #180 (June 1969), in which the short tale's penciler,
Gil Kane, stars as an artist drawing for DC Comics and venturing into the physical House of Mystery.
Friedrich co-created Merlyn in
Justice League of America #94 (Nov. 1971)
and the character was adapted into the
Arrow TV series in 2012.
Moving to Marvel after four years, Friedrich scripted every issue of
Iron Man but three from #48–81 (July 1972 – Dec. 1975).
In issue #55 (Feb. 1973), he co-scripted the introduction of the popular characters
Thanos and Drax the Destroyer, created and co-scripted by artist
Jim Starlin.
[ Iron Man #55 at the Grand Comics Database]
Other work includes issues of Marvel's Captain America, Captain Marvel, where he worked with artist Jim Starlin on the latter's transition to writer on an acclaimed run of that series,
Star*Reach
Friedrich's most notable contribution may be his 1970s anthology series
Star Reach, a forerunner of the independently produced comics that proliferated, beginning in the 1980s, with the rise of the "
direct market" of comic-book stores.
styled itself as a "ground-level" comic book
[Burchett, Rick, and Ed. Mantels, "Whizzard Talks to Steranko", Whizzard vol. 2, #11 issue (Summer 1978; published by Marty Klug, 5730 Chatport Road, St. Louis, Missouri), p.13] – not an underground comix publication, but also not mainstream or "overground". Eighteen issues were released between 1974 and 1979, with Friedrich's same-name publishing company expanding to other series, including
Quack;
Imagine; and
Lee Marrs'
Pudge, Girl Blimp, along with a number of one-shot comics, before closing down.
Comics historian Richard J. Arndt wrote in 2006 that Star*Reach
Friedrich closed Star*Reach as a publisher in 1979 but reopened it as a talent agency in 1982.
WonderCon
Friedrich, in partnership with Joe Field, owned and operated the San Francisco Bay Area comic book convention
WonderCon for 15 years before selling it to Comic-Con International in 2001.
[Albert, Aaron. "Wondercon Profile", About.com, n.d. WebCitation archive.]
Awards
Friedrich received an
Inkpot Award at the 1980 San Diego Comic-Con.
In 2019, Friedrich was awarded the Bill Finger Award to recognize his contributions to the industry.
Later life
Mike Friedrich became an ordained deacon in the United Methodist Church at the Pacific School of Religion.
Bibliography
Atlas/Seaboard Comics
-
Wulf the Barbarian #4 (1975)
DC Comics
-
Batman #200, 219, 221–222, 225 (Batman lead stories); #202, 227, 229–231, 234–236, 239–242 (Dick Grayson backup stories) (1968–1972)
-
Challengers of the Unknown #66 (1969)
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Detective Comics #384–385 (Barbara Gordon backup stories); #386, 390–391, 402–403 (Robin backup stories); #387 (Batman lead story) (1969–1970)
-
The Flash #186, 195, 197–198, 207 (1969–1971)
-
Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #6 (1972)
-
Green Lantern #61, 73–74 (1968–1970)
-
House of Mystery #180 (1969)
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House of Secrets #81, 90 (1969–1971)
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Justice League #86–92, 94–99 (1970–1972)
-
Our Army at War #207, 217, 227, 236 (1969–1971)
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Phantom Stranger vol. 2 #1–3 (1969)
-
Showcase #80 (Phantom Stranger) (1969)
-
Spectre #3, 9 (1968–1969)
-
Superman #255 (World of Krypton backup story) (1972)
-
Teen Titans #19 (1969)
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The Witching Hour #7 (1970)
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World's Finest Comics #200, 209 (1971–1972)
Marvel Comics
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Adventure into Fear #20 (Morbius) (1974)
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Astonishing Tales #16–20 (Ka-Zar) (1973)
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Captain America #171 (1974)
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Captain Marvel #24, 26–28, 35 (1973–1974)
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Dracula Lives #7 (1974)
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Iron Man #48–55, 58–75, 77, 79–81 (1972–1975)
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Ka-Zar vol. 2 #1–5 (1974)
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Marvel Feature #4–7, 8 (four page framing sequence only), 9–10 (Hank Pym); #12 (The Thing and Iron Man) (1972–1973)
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Marvel Super Action #1 (Bobbi Morse/Huntress) (1976)
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Outlaw Kid #10–12 (1972)
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Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #114 (1973)
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Strange Tales #176–177 (Golem) (1974)
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Namor #54, 56 (1972)
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Adam Warlock #3–4, 7–8 (1972–1973)
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Werewolf by Night #16–19 (1974)
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Western Gunfighters #4–5 (1971)
Skywald Publications
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Butch Cassidy #1 (1971)
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Nightmare #1 (1970)
Star Reach
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Imagine #1–5 (1978–1979)
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Parsifal #1 (1978)
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Quack #1–6 (1976–1977)
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Star Reach #2–5, 7–8, 10–14, 16–18 (1975–1979)
-
Within Our Reach #1 (1991)
External links
Further reading
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Comic Book Artist vol. 2, #2 (Summer 2003): Interview with Mike Friedrich
