William Francis Messner-Loebs (/ˈmɛznərˈloʊbz/;[1] born William Francis Loebs, Jr.,[2] February 19, 1949)[3] is an Americancomics artist and writer from Michigan, also known as Bill Loebs and Bill Messner-Loebs. His hyphenated surname is a combination of his and his wife Nadine's unmarried surnames.
William Messner-Loebs was born in Ferndale, Michigan.[4] His right arm was amputated above the shoulder in infancy because of a cancerous tumor;[5] he writes and draws with his left hand.
Loebs was a friend of Kevin Siembieda, and played in Siembieda's role-playing group in Detroit; in 1981, his mother Frances (Schepeler) Loebs loaned Siembieda the money to start publishing role-playing books for his company Palladium Books.[6]
His first comics work was for Power Comics Company[7] and on Noble Comics' Justice Machine with Mike Gustovich. His first ongoing series was Journey: The Adventures of Wolverine MacAlistaire, about 19th-century Michigan frontier life, which he both wrote and illustrated.[5] It was published from 1983 to 1986 by Aardvark-Vanaheim and Fantagraphics, followed by a limited series Journey: Wardrums. He wrote the 31-issue Jonny Quest series published by Comico from 1986 to 1988[8] and collaborated with artist Adam Kubert on the Jezebel Jade limited series, a spin-off from the Jonny Quest series.[9]
In 1988, he began writing The Flash with issue #15 and continued through #61. He and artist Greg LaRocque introduced Linda Park as a supporting character in the series in The Flash vol. 2 #28 (July 1989).[10] He also reintroduced the Pied Piper as a reformed villain and established the character as gay, in issue #53 (Aug. 1991).[11]
In 2005, following years of limited freelance work and the loss of his and his wife's home in the early 2000s, Messner-Loebs's financial condition was publicized in the local newspaper and comics news sites and Internet message boards.[15][16] Author Clifford Meth teamed up with artist Neal Adams to create a benefit auction to help Messner-Loebs.[17] The two also created an art tribute book entitled Heroes & Villains with all proceeds aiding Messner-Loebs.[2]
His financial situation improved somewhat, and he had a number of works published, including an issue of Green Arrow in 2005,[8] and several pieces in The Three Tenors (Aardwolf Publishing), which he shared credits for along with Clifford Meth and artist Dave Cockrum. A new "Journey" story was included in the one-shot Many Happy Returns in 2008, and IDW Publishing reprinted the original material in paperback. He has done writing for Boom! Studios, including the four-issue Necronomicon[18][19] and stories for Zombie Tales. He has done illustration work for the 2007 humor book Chicken Wings for the Beer Drinker's Soul and a monthly cartoon for the Livingston [County, MI] Parent Journal. In 2008, he discussed additional, more substantial new works with various publishers.[20] In 2011, he wrote the DC Retroactive: The Flash – The '80s and DC Retroactive: Wonder Woman – The '90s one-shots.[21]
As of early 2018, William Messner-Loebs and his wife have continued to struggle financially, with Messner-Loebs working two part-time positions in Michigan.[22] In 2019, he co-wrote, with Amy Chu, issues #3–5 of the limited series Kiss: The End for Dynamite Entertainment, and contributed to an independent comic book anthology called YEET Presents.[23]
In September 2020, William Messner-Loebs was named Project Editor for Resurgence Comics.[24][25]
^Stroud, Bryan D. (August 2016). "William Messner-Loebs and Adam Kubert Discuss Jezebel Jade". Back Issue! (90). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 68–75.
^Cronin, Brian (August 8, 2011). "Almost Hidden - The Pied Piper Comes Out of the Closet". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on June 18, 2017. We gained one of the few openly gay superhero supporting characters in DC Comics History in 1991's Flash #53, written by William Messner-Loebs and drawn by Greg LaRocque and Jose Marzan Jr.
^Greenberger, Robert; Manning, Matthew K. (2009). The Batman Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the Batcave. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press. p. 41. ISBN978-0-7624-3663-7. Shortly after the 1989 feature [film], Batman even returned to the funny pages for a bit, in a comic strip by writer William Messner-Loebs...Lacking enough support from various papers to make it financially feasible, the new comic strip folded after two years, despite Carmine Infantino trying his hand at its art chores.
^Manning, Matthew K. (2010). "1990s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 268. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9.
^Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 267: "Hawkman fought a new string of dark adventures with the help of writer William Messner-Loebs and artist Steve Lieber."
^Cronin, Brian (May 12, 2020). "Comic Legends: Why Did The Flash Lose His Lottery Winnings?". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2020. If you just want to see some more recent Bill Loebs goodness, check out Yeet Presents here, who have been working with Bill recently, with a brand-new Wolverine Macalistaire story appearing in YEET Presents #33
^"Bill Finger Award Recipients". Comics Continuum. Archived from the original on June 16, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
