Mike Allred

Mike Allred

Allred at Special Edition NYC
Born Michael Dalton Allred
Roseburg, Oregon
Nationality American
Area(s) Writer, Penciller, Inker
Pseudonym(s) Doc
Notable works
 Madman
X-Statix
IZOMBIE

http://www.aaapop.com'''

Michael Dalton "Mike" Allred is an American comic book artist and writer most famous for his independent comics creation, Madman. His style is often compared to pop art, as well as commercial and comic art of the 1950s and 1960s.

Career

Allred sketching at Lucca 2010

Mike Allred began his career as a radio host on KYES AM 950 (KY95) in Roseburg, Oregon. He later became a television reporter in Europe, and started drawing comics in 1989 with the 104-page graphic novel Dead Air (Slave Labor Graphics). The story loosely followed his stint in radio as a sidebar to the true focus of the novel, the effects of post-nuclear war over a small Oregon town. He followed this up with his similarly titled works Graphique Musique (1990) and Grafik Muzik (Caliber Comics 1990-1991), in which he set out the style that he was to become known for with his most famous character, Madman.[1]

The first Madman miniseries debuted from Tundra Publishing in March 1992, and gained further recognition with its move to Dark Horse Comics in April 1994.[2] Relaunched as Madman Comics, it went on to be nominated for several Harvey Awards.

Allred drew part of the 1993 "Worlds' End" story arc in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series.[3][4]

Allred appeared as himself in the 1997 feature film Chasing Amy as part of the opening scene at a comic book convention, signing copies of his comic Madman. He also provides the artwork for the fictional comic book Bluntman and Chronic.

Allred himself gained further mainstream attention with the science-fiction/rock-and-roll comic Red Rocket 7[2] and his art for writer Peter Milligan's series X-Force, which he began drawing in July 2001,[5] and subsequently became X-Statix.[6]

Following this, he wrote and drew The Golden Plates, an adaptation of The Book of Mormon. Allred is a Latter-day Saint, and did much of the work on this project in collabortation with his wife Laura Allred.[7] Allred collaborated again with Neil Gaiman in 2009 on the Metamorpho feature in Wednesday Comics.[8][9] The Madman All-New Giant-Size Super-Ginchy Special! was published in April 2011.[10] Allred and writer Matt Fraction collaborated on a Fantastic Four spinoff series, FF, in 2013.[11][12] The following year, Allred and writer Dan Slott launched a new Silver Surfer series at Marvel.[13] His comic iZOMBIE, which ran from 2010 to 2012, was adapted into a 2015 television series, also titled iZombie.[14]

Allred's retro-styled artwork is a frequent nominee for comics awards such as the Harveys, the Eisners, and the Eagles. He received a 2011 AML Award in the category of "Special Award in Graphical Narrative" for a lifetime of comic art.[15] His wife, Laura, frequently works as his colorist.[16][17]

Bibliography

Cover to the Madman Adventures collected edition

Covers only

Other work

As artist

As writer

As musician

References

  1. ↑ "Mike Allred". Lambiek Comiclopedia. August 29, 2008. Archived from the original on February 20, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Michael Allred at the Grand Comics Database and Mike Allred at the Grand Comics Database
  3. ↑ Bender, Hy (1999). The Sandman Companion. DC Comics. pp. 181–183. ISBN 978-1563894657.
  4. ↑ Burgas, Greg (January 7, 2013). "Comics You Should Own – Sandman". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on April 10, 2014.
  5. ↑ Manning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "2000s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. Dorling Kindersley. p. 306. ISBN 978-0756641238. X-Force, an X-Men spinoff, received a makeover in July [2001] thanks to writer Peter Milligan and artist Mike Allred. A mixture of dark comedy and underground heroics, X-Force received critical acclaim, but a mixed reaction from fans.
  6. ↑ Manning "2000s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 313: "The further adventures of Peter Milligan and Mike Allred's version of X-Force now received a name - X-Statix."
  7. ↑ Weigel, David (October 11, 2011). "The Book of Mormon, Superhero-style". Slate. Archived from the original on March 5, 2013.
  8. ↑ Cowsill, Alan; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "2000s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 338. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. The [series] contained fifteen continuous stories, including...'Metamorpho' scripted by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Michael Allred.
  9. ↑ Minnick, Remy (January 30, 2009). "Gaiman & Allred on Metamorpho". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2009.
  10. ↑ Campbell, Josie (March 14, 2011). "Allred's Giant-Size Madman". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on May 13, 2014.
  11. ↑ Beard, Jim (August 13, 2012). "Marvel NOW! Q&A: Fantastic Four". Marvel Comics. Archived from the original on May 26, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  12. ↑ Richards, Dave (November 27, 2012). "Fraction Celebrates Marvel's First Families in Fantastic Four & FF". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on May 26, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  13. ↑ Rogers, Vaneta (October 13, 2013). "NYCC 2013: Dan Slott Crams 'Kirby Cool' Concepts Into New Silver Surfer Series". Newsarama. Archived from the original on October 27, 2013.
  14. ↑ "iZombie". Bloody Disgusting. May 7, 2012.
  15. ↑ Young, Margaret Blair (May 7, 2012). "Elder Groberg Encourages Writers at AML Conference". Meridian Magazine. Archived from the original on April 3, 2013.
  16. ↑ Odegard, Kyle (November 27, 2004). "The Passion of the Artist". Corvallis Gazette-Times. Archived from the original on May 13, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  17. ↑ Laura Allred at the Grand Comics Database

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mike Allred.