Mike Zeck Explained

Birth Date:6 September 1949
Birth Place:Greenville, Pennsylvania, United States
Nationality:American
Art:y
Notable Works:Captain America
Kraven's Last Hunt
Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars
Master of Kung-Fu
The Punisher

Michael J. Zeck (born September 6, 1949)[1] is an American comics artist. He is best known for his work for Marvel Comics on such series as Captain America, Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars, Master of Kung-Fu, and The Punisher as well as the "Kraven's Last Hunt" storyline in the Spider-Man titles.

Early life

Mike Zeck was born in Greenville, Pennsylvania. He attended the Ringling School of Art in 1967, and after graduation worked at the Migrant Education Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Career

Zeck began his comics career in 1974, doing illustration assignments for the text stories in Charlton Comics' animated line of comics, which led to work on their horror titles. During this period he lived briefly in the Derby, Connecticut, area where Charlton was headquartered.

In 1977, Zeck started working for Marvel Comics on Master of Kung Fu with writer Doug Moench. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Moench and Zeck's work on Master of Kung-Fu sixth on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels".[2] Zeck later worked on Captain America and drew covers for G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.

Zeck illustrated the Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars limited series in 1984.[3] For this series, he designed a new black-and-white costume temporarily worn by Spider-Man.[4] [5] The plot that developed as a result of Spider-Man's acquisition of the costume led to the creation of the Spider-Man villain known as Venom.[6]

In 1986, Zeck collaborated with writer Steven Grant on a Punisher miniseries which was later collected as The Punisher: Circle Of Blood[7] and an original hardcover graphic novel of the character three years later.[8]

Zeck illustrated the 1987 Spider-Man storyline "Kraven's Last Hunt",[9] written by his former Captain America collaborator J. M. DeMatteis, which is considered to be one of the quintessential stories in Spider-Man's history, as well as the definitive Kraven the Hunter storyline.[10] [11] [12]

DeMatteis remarked, "Because Mike nailed the plot elements so perfectly in his pencils—every action, every emotion, was there, clear as a bell — I didn't have to worry about belaboring those elements in the captions or dialogue. I was free to do those interior monologues that were so important to the story. If any other artist had drawn “Kraven's Last Hunt” ... it wouldn't have been the same story."[13]

In 2004, Zeck's cover of Web of Spider-Man #32, which depicts Spider-Man escaping the grave into which he has been interred by Kraven, was recreated as a 12-inch-tall resin diorama statue by Dynamic Forces.[14]

Zeck has worked for DC Comics as well. He contributed to Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe in the mid-1980s.[15] Zeck drew the covers for the "Ten Nights of the Beast" storyline in Batman #417–420 (March–June 1988)[16] and these covers were later collected in a portfolio.[17] His other credits for the publisher include , Legends of the DC Universe, and covers for Deathstroke, The Terminator. In 1999, he collaborated with writer Mark Waid on The Kingdom (illustrating issue #2, with Ariel Olivetti illustrating issue #1), a sequel to Kingdom Come.[18]

Bibliography

Charlton Comics

DC Comics

Image Comics

Malibu Comics

Marvel Comics

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mike Zeck. October 29, 2012. Lambiek Comiclopedia. https://web.archive.org/web/20121113104242/http://www.lambiek.net/artists/z/zeck_michael.htm. November 13, 2012. live. mdy-all.
  2. Web site: Top 10 1970s Marvels . Jason . Sacks . September 6, 2010 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20130801070005/http://www.comicsbulletin.com/columns/447/top-10-1970s-marvels . August 1, 2013 . dead . mdy-all . August 3, 2013 .
  3. Book: DeFalco. Tom. Tom DeFalco. Gilbert. Laura, ed.. 1980s. Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. Dorling Kindersley. 2008. London, United Kingdom. 217. 978-0756641238.
  4. DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 217: "Designed by Mike Zeck, [the costume] became a black-and-white alien symbiote that could produce unlimited webbing and respond to Spider-Man's thoughts."
  5. Book: David. Peter. Peter David. Greenberger. Robert. Robert Greenberger. The Spider-Man Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles Spun from Marvel's Web. Running Press. 2010. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 86. 978-0762437726. According to Jim Shooter...Mike Zeck did the actual design. Ron Frenz was the first penciler to actually render it in the comics..
  6. David, Peter. "The Wacko Theory"; Comics Buyer's Guide June 4, 1993; Reprinted in the collection But I Digress (1994); pp. 104–106
  7. Book: Grant, Steven. Steven Grant. Zeck, Mike. Punisher: Circle of Blood. Marvel Comics. 2008. 176. 978-0-7851-2331-6.
  8. Book: Grant, Steven. Zeck, Mike. The Punisher: Return to Big Nothing. Marvel Comics. 1989. 64. 978-0871355539.
  9. DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 231: "The six-issue story arc...ran through all the Spider-Man titles for two months."
  10. Web site: Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt HC Preview. Richard. George. July 12, 2006. IGN. https://web.archive.org/web/20131227223345/http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/07/12/spider-man-kravens-last-hunt-hc-preview. December 27, 2013. live. mdy-all.
  11. Web site: Kraven's Last Hunt – Review. October 19, 2010. Weekly Comic Book Review. https://web.archive.org/web/20131208053026/http://weeklycomicbookreview.com/2010/10/19/kravens-last-hunt-review/. December 8, 2013. live. mdy-all.
  12. Web site: Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt. Win. Wiacek. October 1, 2007. Now Read This!. https://web.archive.org/web/20131227223953/http://www.comicsreview.co.uk/nowreadthis/2007/10/01/spider-man-kravens-last-hunt/. December 27, 2013. live. mdy-all.
  13. Johnson. Dan. August 2009. In Our Sights: Kraven's Last Hunt. Back Issue!. 35. 5. TwoMorrows Publishing. Raleigh, North Carolina.
  14. Web site: DF Statue Bags Spidey from Kraven's Last Hunt. Lance. Woods. 2004. Diamond Comics. https://web.archive.org/web/20131227224259/http://www.diamondcomics.com/Home/1/1/3/5?articleID=5068. December 27, 2013. live. mdy-all. July 7, 2013.
  15. Book: Manning. Matthew K.. Dolan. Hannah, ed.. 1980s. DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. 2010. London, United Kingdom. 978-0-7566-6742-9. 212.
  16. Book: Manning. Matthew K.. Dougall. Alastair, ed.. 1980s. Batman: A Visual History. Dorling Kindersley. 2014. London, United Kingdom. 171. 978-1465424563.
  17. Book: Greenberger. Robert. Robert Greenberger. Manning. Matthew K.. The Batman Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the Batcave. Running Press. 2009. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 978-0762436637. 37. Batman became the subject of several artist portfolios released by DC Comics in the 1980s, including a set of plates by Mike Zeck..
  18. Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 286: "Writer Mark Waid returned to the kingdom he helped envision with this series of specials designed as a sequel to the hit miniseries Kingdom Come. With two bookends entitled The Kingdom (illustrated by Ariel Olivetti and Mike Zeck)...these one-shots provided updates to the lives of the Kingdom Come characters."

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