Mike Wieringo Remembered

A tribute from JQ of Marvel Comics for one of their own

Ringo!

From the bouncy signature to the remarkable art that it brands, last week the world lost one of the greats, and what is truly a loss for all of us is that we lost him way too early.

On Sunday, August 12, Mike Wieringo passed away in his home in North Carolina, the victim of heart failure at the ridiculously young age of 44.

As one would expect, so much has been said about Mike over these last few days. Yes, he was an amazing guy, a fantastic artist and beloved by all who got to know him even in the most casual of fashions, but Mike was so much more than any of these limited descriptions can convey. All hyperbole aside, Mike’s art…well, much like Mike, it simply made you smile.

He was born in Venice, Italy in 1963 and raised in Lynchburg, NC. In 1991 he began his comic book career with Millenium Publications. It was only two short years later that Mike’s career began to skyrocket when he took over penciling duties for DC’s Flash series, working, for the very first time, alongside writer and soon to be close friend, Mark Waid. Mike’s beautifully clean and bouncy artwork caught the fascination of the comic-reading public and never let go.

In 1995, Mike came to Marvel and penciled his first project for us, a four-issue ROGUE mini-series with Howard Mackie. By 1995, it was evident that Mike’s art was special and he got tapped on the shoulder to work on Marvel’s flagship character, Spider-Man. For this project he teamed with writer and best friend Todd DeZago to produce 17 issues of SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN over a two-year span. As an artist coming up at exactly the same time as Mike, his run on SPECTACULAR was when I first truly became aware of his amazing talent. It’s also where I learned to envy him from afar because he was so much better than us mere mortals.

In 1999, teaming up with Todd once more, Mike co-created Tellos for Image and Gorilla Comics. It was a delightful creator-owned series filled with fantasy and fun at a time when comics were at their darkest and grittiest.

After a second stint at DC, Ringo linked back up with Mark Waid in 2002, and the duo embarked on one of my all-time favorite runs on FANTASTIC FOUR. Ringo and Mark breathed new life into the Fantastic Four and his work has been hailed as some of the best to grace the over 500 issues of the series. High praise when you consider the legends that have drawn the FF over the years.

2005 saw Mike return to Peter Parker and his friends, launching FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN alongside Peter David. Mike provided interior pencils for eight of the first 10 issues, as well the cover artwork for the series’ first 19. And much to the delight of Spider-Man fans everywhere (me included!), Ringo crafted variant covers for the 12-part Spider-Man crossover, “The Other,” each featuring a different iteration of the Wall-Crawler.

Mike’s final published Marvel issues came in 2007 with the SPIDER-MAN AND THE FANTASTIC FOUR mini-series, produced with writer and pal Jeff Parker. In production at the time of his passing was a WHAT IF story that was to be published late in 2007. On Monday, August 13, a day after his passing, we received the seventh page of the issue. It was a very sad day here at Marvel when it arrived knowing that his brilliant talent had been taken from us.

Mike’s impact on the comic world stretches farther past even the business and creative aspects. His gentle nature and kind personality touched all of us who had the pleasure to meet and work with him. In his absence, having him taken so soon, many of us have looked for something to console us through the shock and emptiness. To me, it’s very clear and simple, God’s written a comic book and needed a great artist to draw it.

To read comments from Mike’s peers and colleagues at Marvel Comics and another look at some of Mike’s fabulous cover work go HERE.