Uh . . . Bill Mantlo: S&D?

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From the 52 New Answers thread:

it makes me think that maybe fans turned pro writers really are nerds who don't know how people talk, since they learned from, I dunno, Bill Mantlo or somebody.
-- veronica moser (rp...), June 26th, 2006

Maybe his stilted Mantlogue is the man's most enduring legacy to spandex-punchup comics, but there seems to be some love out there for portions of his prolific output: mostly, it seems his Hulk run (Ms. Modok, Puffball Collective), which I confess to having sampled only spottily, but ur-po-faced toy-cosmic sagas ROM and Micronauts still have their partisans as well. His Alpha Flight is pretty much universally reviled, but I liked it when I was 11; forced soap-angst at maximum levels, a moody, downbeat vibe that veered occasionally into the horrific, and a high body count. He also wrote about 1 billion fill-in issues of most of the Marvel titles, and, I guess, the Invasion crossover thingy for DC. Anybody?

Destroy: The Human Fly. Sorry.

― Greg Marsh (Greg M.), Friday, 21 July 2006 14:30 (nineteen years ago)

Invasion = scripting over Giffen, which was a pretty impossible-to-fuck-up job at that point in time.

― kit brash (kit brash), Saturday, 22 July 2006 08:30 (nineteen years ago)

He wrote one GREAT comic - Daredevil 140, a self-contained, surprisingly violent punch up w/ the beetle and the gladiator, pencilled by sal buscema and beautifully inked by Klaus Janson. The early issues of Micronauts have gorgeous Michael Golden artwork. His runs on Rom and the Hulk, again w/ Sal Buscema, are kind of passable. But o/wise, meh

― Ward Fowler (Ward Fowler), Sunday, 23 July 2006 18:54 (nineteen years ago)

He wrote one GREAT comic - Daredevil 140, a self-contained, surprisingly violent punch up w/ the beetle and the gladiator, pencilled by sal buscema and beautifully inked by Klaus Janson.

-- Ward Fowler (wardfowle...), July 23rd, 2006.

I will hunt this one down.

Not intending to call your judgment into question, but have you read Every Single Mantlo Comic? Perhaps he was in fact capable of writing two GREAT comics -- one of which has sadly been lost to History. Or maybe, like, 1-1/2 GREAT comics.

― Greg Marsh (Greg M.), Sunday, 23 July 2006 20:35 (nineteen years ago)

I dunno. MICRONAUTS #29 was pretty great and totally off the rails.

― Matt Maxwell (Matt M.), Monday, 24 July 2006 02:24 (nineteen years ago)

Greg, you have me dead bang to rights for too hastily dismissing the complete works of bill mantlo, based on an imcomplete reading of his ouevre, and i swear to you i will correct that just as soon as i poss can, i really will

― Ward Fowler (Ward Fowler), Monday, 24 July 2006 19:26 (nineteen years ago)

Good! Perhaps you will unearth some gold in them thar hills along with the inevitable veins of Mantlonium.

Don't forget TEAM AMERICA!

― Greg Marsh (Greg M.), Monday, 24 July 2006 20:39 (nineteen years ago)

my collection is 500 miles away from me, so I can't say for sure re: mantlo, but without refreshing my recollection, I think he was kinda hackish.

but I recently learned that, while a fanboy, he worked in the industry in order to pay his way through law school. he left the field and became a public defender. then, in the late '80s/early '90s, he was struck by a car while rollerblading, and has since been severely mentally compromised.

horrible…

― veronica moser (veronica moser), Monday, 24 July 2006 21:17 (nineteen years ago)

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