Michael Netzer

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Michael Netzer

Michael Netzer, in 2006
Birth name Michael Nasser
Born October 9, 1955 (1955-10-09) (age 52)
Area(s) Artist
Notable works Detective Comics

Michael Netzer, born Michael Nasser on 9 October 1955,[1], is an American artist best known for his comic book work for industry leaders DC Comics and Marvel Comics in the 1970s,[2][3] as well as for his online presence.[4][5][6]

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years

Born in Detroit, Michigan, to parents of Lebanese origin, Netzer contracted polio at the age of eight months which partially paralyzed his left hip and leg. After two years of medical treatment, he was sent with his mother and siblings to his father’s hometown , Dayr Qūbil, Lebanon, where they remained until he reached the age of 11. Returning to Detroit in 1967, he enrolled in the public school system and gravitated towards the arts, notably comic book illustration and storytelling.[7]

After two years of studies at Wayne State University in Michigan, Netzer met Neal Adams at a comics convention in Detroit and was informally offered a job with Continuity Studios. Upon relocating to New York City in 1975, he quickly gained recognition as an artist for illustrating a variety of characters at DC Comics, including, Superboy, the Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, and Black Lightning, and Marvel Comics, including Spider Man.

Netzer's Batman from DC Special Series #1 (1977). Neal Adams' definitive Batman work became a prominent representation of the character in the 1970s and was a notable influence on Netzer's art.
Netzer's Batman from DC Special Series #1 (1977). Neal Adams' definitive Batman work became a prominent representation of the character in the 1970s and was a notable influence on Netzer's art.

In the fall of 1977, Netzer's career was interrupted by his leaving New York and hitchhiking across the United States.[8] Arriving in San Francisco, he contacted Star*Reach magazine publisher Mike Friedrich to decline a commitment he had made for the publication's first color installment. Friedrich, upon hearing the reasons for the sudden change, asked Netzer to produce a story that would tell of his new-found aspirations, resulting in then produced "The Old, New and Final Testaments", an eight-page vignette where he weaved socio-religious history with humanity's ambitions for the colonization of the solar system.[9] Friedrich published the story in Star*Reach #12 (1977) and expounded upon his meeting with Michael in the editorial, telling of the artist's intent to embark upon a career of public speaking aimed at the advancement of world peace.

[edit] Leaving the American comics scene

For the next several years, Nasser produced sporadic comic book work while traveling throughout the United States. He began promoting the idea of creating a new political hierarchy through the comic book medium, which led his colleagues to often cite his activity as messianic and express concerns about his behavior.[10][11][12][13] By the summer of 1981, Nasser all but disappeared from the American comics scene, extending his travels back to his childhood home in Lebanon. The return to the middle east was deeply rooted in Michael's continued research of religion. Planning to spend a short time in Beirut before continuing to Israel, he became entangled in the June 1982 Israeli military excursion into Lebanon. He escaped the war-ridden country in August 1983, by means of a hired taxi-cab to the Lebanon-Israel border. Upon reaching Israel, he studied the Hebrew language within several kibbutzim before settling into the West Bank settlement of Ofra where he changed his last name to Netzer. There, Michael met and fell in love with Elana Joseph, with whom he is currently married and raising five children.

In 1987, he produced Israel’s first Super Hero color comic book, with partners Jonathan Duitch and Yossi Halpern, "Uri-On"[14]. This came at a time of a surge in comics activity in the country and was featured in an Israel Museum Comics Exhibit alongside the work of his national peers, Dudu Geva, Uri Fink and others. Michael's design of the Menorah symbol for Uri-On was featured in a later Israel Museum exhibit highlighting various Menorah designs through the ages. Netzer’s prominence as a former American comic book artist and controversial choice of residence in the disputed West Bank, provided a platform for the artist to appear on local television talk shows, receive varied media coverage and give lectures on the comic book medium as a tool for advancing a peaceful solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict[15].

[edit] Return to American comics

From "12 Parts" Hot Stuff #6 1978, depicting the sharp departure from the artist's early career influences.
From "12 Parts" Hot Stuff #6 1978, depicting the sharp departure from the artist's early career influences.

In 1991, Netzer returned to New York to work again with Neal Adams at Continuity Studios. The two fell into a dispute over the intellectual property rights to Ms. Mystic,[16] a character they worked on jointly in 1977, which Adams had published under the Pacific Comics and Continuity Comics imprints. In 1993, Netzer filed a law suit against Adams in New York Federal Court, but the case was dismissed in 1995, citing the statute of limitations.[17] Netzer produced a series of comic book projects during this period, including, Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #2, Detective Comics, The Huntress, Babylon 5 and Neil Gaiman’s Lady Justice for Tekno Comix. His art in this period demonstrated a notable shift into a darker and moodier art style, such as in The Huntress mini-series, which merged his high-contrast style in the 1978 Hot Stuff[18] with the dark noir art of the popular Frank Miller's Sin City series.[19][20] In 1994 he returned to Israel and slowly gravitated away from comics art.

In 1998 Netzer teamed up with Sofia Fedorov to establish a visual media production studio called Netzart Fedorov Media which allowed Netzer to develop his skills in computer-generated illustration, advertising and web design.

A forty day retreat to the Dead Sea resort of Ein Gedi in February 2003 greatly redirected Netzer's art back to the previous spiritual work of twenty-five years before.[citation needed]

[edit] Into the comics web community

In January 2004, Netzer launched his first web site, "The New Comic Book of Life", outlining his theories on superhero mythology and the role it plays in cultural evolution. On the site, Netzer revealed unpublished material espousing this manifesto from 1977-1981, which had never seen publication. He also apologized to colleague Neal Adams for his law suit against him in the previous decade.[21]. In November 2004, he launched a second web site, "The Comic Book Creator's Party", calling on comics creators to form a political union for participating in the 2008 U.S. Presidential elections, and quoting notable comics creators' references to the socio-political climate in America and abroad.[22] Netzer has since launched several other web sites, including "The Comic Book Creators' Guild", "Growing Earth Consortium" and "Michael Netzer Online", the site-complex portal.

Though he's produced no mainstream comics art since the mid-1990's, Netzer maintains a web presence,[23] speaking on comics community issues,[24] including a campaign to bolster comic fandom's support for J'onn J'onzz The Martian Manhunter,[25] facing a rumored demise in DC Comics Final Crisis crossover series.[26][27][28]

[edit] Bibliography

Comics work includes:

Note: From 1987 (Uri-On #1), he is credited as Michael Netzer; previously, he was credited with birth name, Michael Nasser.

[edit] Covers

Netzer has also provided the art for these covers:

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ DC Comics biography, Challengers of the Unknown. #82 (1977)
  2. ^ Michael Netzer at the Lambiek Comiclopedia
  3. ^ Continuity Studios
  4. ^ Thom Young, Being and Time: An Interview with Michael Netzer, Comics Bulletin, 5 October 2005
  5. ^ Graeme McMillan, Netzer: He don’t want to ball around like everybody else., Newsarama, 21 June 2006.
  6. ^ Clifford Meth, Michael Netzer: Party Animal, Comics Bulletin. 08,2004
  7. ^ Ken Thomas and Ed Mantles-Seeker interview in Whizzard Magazine #12, Dec. 1978.
  8. ^ Mike Friedrich, editorial in Star Reach #12, Dec. 1977.
  9. ^ MichaelNetzer.com
  10. ^ Neal Adams interview in The Comics Journal #72, May 1982.
  11. ^ Josef Rubinstein interview at Adelaide Comics & Books, 2004.
  12. ^ Guy LeCharles Gonzalez, Loudpoet, Link: Defending Ronee, 06/2006.
  13. ^ Steven Thompson, Michael Netzer entry at Booksteve's Library, 04/2006.
  14. ^ Uri-On: The Israeli-Jewish Superman, Haggadahs R Us
  15. ^ Yoni Shedmi, Hero on the Edge, NRG Maariv, 26 August 2005
  16. ^ Controversy over Ms. Mystic credits
  17. ^ Netzer v. Continuity Graphic Associates, Inc., 963 F.Supp. 1308, 1323 (S.D.N.Y. 1997)
  18. ^ Sal Quartucio's Hot Stuff comics anthology, 1978.
  19. ^ Francis Silver, The Huntress: The critical conscience of Bat-verse, uBC Monitor, 24 March 2002.
  20. ^ Comicon.com discussion on Netzer's art style 6-7/2003.
  21. ^ Lying in the Gutters by Rich Johnston, Comic Book Resources, 13 January 2004
  22. ^ Rich Johnston's Lying in the Gutters, Where's Michael, 22 November 2004.
  23. ^ Netzer appearance at Imwan Forums. 6 January 2007.
  24. ^ Graeme McMillan, I'm Digging for Gold..., Blog@Newsarama, 9 January 2007.
  25. ^ JK Parkin, Netzer Unites Fandom..., Blog@Newsarama, 21 January 2008.
  26. ^ Heidi MacDonald, Michael Netzer has a Cause, The Beat, Publishers Weekly, 21 January 2008.
  27. ^ Rick Marshall, J'Onn J'Onzz Marked for Death?, ComicMix, 23 January 2008.
  28. ^ George Gustines, The Flash Resurrection, The Lede, New York Times blog, 30 April 2008.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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