Hard Times for William Messner Loebs

Hanzo the Razor · 24 Jun 2007

What a cruel business comics can be. One of the top writers at one point, now homeless and forgotten. Damn, what a shame... things like this make me glad I never took the gamble of trying to break into comics. Unless you're a talent on the level of Jim Lee or George Perez, or create a property that sees success in other media like Ninja Turtles of Walking Dead, it seems like it's a tough career over the long haul.

Another reason it's frustrating that some comics creators never seemed to appreciate their good fortune, or the loyalty of their fan bases.

Quote:

One-armed comic book artist worked on Wonder Woman, now homeless in Michigan

(WJBK) - It was late February when I first learned about Bill. My wife was at dinner with her mom and stepdad and came home with the story: this guy used to write comic books, was credited in the Wonder Woman movie and now he’s homeless. Oh yeah, and he only has one arm.

A one-armed comic book artist who’s credited in one of the biggest movies of the year, yet lives out of his car? Sounds like a story is in there somewhere.

Bill’s life story started in Ferndale but he was a bit of an Army brat, spending some time in New Orleans and Maine before heading back to the Mitten after college.

His comic book career started quickly after that and he dabbled in a bit of mainstream and secondary comics. Sketching in his free time, Bill created his longest-running original character, ‘Wolverine MacAlistaire’, who fell into adventures all around his home state of Michigan in the 19th century.

Meanwhile, he took ‘Jonny Quest’ from the ‘60s TV show and turned it into a 31 issue series and his talent grabbed the attention of DC Comics. In the late 80s when they pegged him to work on ‘The Flash’, then ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Thor’.

The road was long and prosperous for Bill and it all peaked in 1993 when MTV took his book ‘The Maxx’ and turned it into a series. The checks were large and the acclaim was far reaching. Life was good.
And then, it wasn’t.

After ‘The Maxx’, Bill and his wife Nadine moved into a nice home. But life happens and disease spares no one. Bill’s mom got sick. Then his wife got sick. Like any house, there were issues that required money to fix. Before he knew it, his Maxx money was more like minimum money. September 2001 was when he finally lost the house and was evicted. The date? September 11, 2001.

Bill said he had exactly one day to feel bad for himself and then the planes hit the towers. He watched the coverage and realized that there are bigger problems out there than his.

The guy gets evicted and has the wherewithal to see the larger picture? Go figure.

Much, much more: http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-n ... n-michigan

pjarrell · 01 Jan 2007

I think I've only read his Maxx and Flash runs. Shouldn't he have gotten something from the IDW reprints of The Maxx?

Ocean Doot · 25 Oct 2007

That's sad to read about. I loved his work on THE MAXX. And they translated his dialogue word for word for the MTV series, and it was awesome. Poor guy.

Dave · 08 Aug 2004

He was credited in Wonder Woman, and presumably the upcoming sequel, and he created Artemis, I believe. He should have gotten a decent check or two out of that. What gives?

Li'l Jay · 28 May 2006

Just because he was credited doesn't mean he had contractual royalties. And even if he had royalties, doesn't mean they would be a "decent" check.

That meddlin kid · 26 Mar 2007

They would have sunk a lot of their capital into that house they lost, and it may be that at some point they faced major medical bills. The fact is, an awful lot of people are only an expensive emergency or two away from homelessness. It's an all-too-common-risk. I was in that situation the whole time I lived in the big city. I was employed full-time, perfectly healthy, and lived quite frugally, but could never save much money due to the sheer cost of living. One piece of really bad financial luck and I'd have been in big trouble. I had family I could have moved in with if worse came to worst, but not everybody has that to fall back on.

Dave Miller · **Joined:** 19 Aug 2006 **Posts:** 2995

Poor guy. The article doesn't mention it, but I remember correctly a primitive crowdfunding campaign around 2001 to help him secure a new home, but the proceeds were stolen by an unscrupulous third party he and hs wife entrusted with the money.

Dave · 08 Aug 2004

Li'l Jay wrote:

Just because he was credited doesn't mean he had contractual royalties. And even if he had royalties, doesn't mean they would be a "decent" check.

You think John Byrne had contractual royalties for being art robot on Legends, because he said he got a huge check from the Suicide Squad movie? If they are in the credits, meaning credits before the film, not thank yous in the end credits, that always means a check, no?

Li'l Jay · 28 May 2006

Dave wrote:

Li'l Jay wrote:

Just because he was credited doesn't mean he had contractual royalties. And even if he had royalties, doesn't mean they would be a "decent" check.

You think John Byrne had contractual royalties for being art robot on Legends, because he said he got a huge check from the Suicide Squad movie? If they are in the credits, meaning credits before the film, not thank yous in the end credits, that always means a check, no?

Okay, this is awkward, but I actually have no idea what I'm talking about. Could be.

Hank · 01 Dec 2004

His run on Impulse with Craig Rousseau was excellent. His Thor run with Mike Deodato, less so. But yeah, brutal industry.

Hard Times for William Messner Loebs

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