Michael Gustovich (born November 15, 1953) is an American artist, known for his

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

art and inking in the 1980s and early 1990s for such publishers as

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

First Comics First Comics is an American comic book publisher that was active from 1983 to 1991 and then from 2011 to present (stylized as 1First Comics), known for titles like '' American Flagg!'', '' Grimjack'', ''Nexus'', ''Badger'', '' Dreadstar'', and '' ...

Comico Comico or Cómico (Spanish "comical" or "funny") may refer to: * Comico: The Comic Company, American comic company 1982–1997 * Comico (NHN Japan), a webtoon portal owned by NHN Japan Corporation NHN Japan Corporation is the Japanese subsidiary ...

, and

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book store, comic book specialty stor ...

. He is the creator of the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

team

Justice Machine The Justice Machine is a fictional team of superheroes originally created by Mike Gustovich and appearing in comic books from many small publishers in the 1980s and 1990s. In addition to Gustovich, writers Jenny Isabella and Mark Ellis have als ...

, which throughout the 1980s and early 1990s was featured in comics from several publishers.

Biography

In 1976, Gustovich joined a consortium of fans and would-be professionals" — including Stu Fillmore — in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

"who adopted the company name" Noble Comics, and published ''The Lands of Prester John'', a 64-page

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'', a ...

of Gustovich's

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

, and

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

stories.Gustovich entry

G-Man Comics G-Man Comics is a micro-publisher. It began on June 22, 2019 with the publication of the first comic book handbook in September 2019. G-Man Comics is a guild-style publisher featuring Rik Offenberger's ''Simon N. Kirby, the Agent'', ''Sgt. Fla ...

. Retrieved Jan. 17, 2023. Gustovich then moved to fellow

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

-based independent publisher Power Comics Company,Power Comics Company entry
Grand Comics Database. Retrieved Jan. 17, 2023. becoming the company's art director as well as creating the superhero feature ''Cobalt Blue'', which appeared in ''Power Comics'' anthology and then also in a self-titled single-issue comic. Power Comics Company dissolved in 1978. In 1981, Gustovich returned to Noble Comics, creating the superhero team

, publishing five issues of the title over two years. Issues #4-5 of ''Justice Machine'' were flip books with new ''Cobalt Blue'' stories. Noble Comics shut down in 1983, but Gustovich licensed Justice Machine to the brand-new publisher Texas Comics, which published a single comic before itself shutting down — ''Justice Machine Annual'' #1, a crossover with the then-defunct

Tower Comics Tower Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1965 to 1969, best known for Wally Wood's '' T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', a strange combination of secret agents and superheroes; and Samm Schwartz's ''Tippy Teen'', an Arch ...

' superhero team

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is a fictional team of superheroes that appeared in comic books originally published by Tower Comics in the 1960s. They were an arm of the United Nations and were notable for their depiction of the heroes as everyday people ...

. (By happenstance,

Bill Willingham William Willingham (born 1956) is an American writer and artist of comics, known for his work on the series '' Elementals'' and ''Fables''. Career William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. During his father's military career the fam ...

's The Elementals also debuted in ''Justice Machine Annual'' #1, an association which became important later on in both feature's histories.) From 1983 to 1985, Gustovich focused on other projects, as he inked the majority of

' ''

Warp! ''Warp!'', also spelled ''Warp'', was a trilogy of American science fiction plays created by the Organic Theatre Company of Chicago, Illinois, in 1971 by co-authors Stuart Gordon and Lenny Kleinfeld, the latter under the pseudonym Bury St. Edmund ...

'' series. In 1986, Justice Machine — and Willingham's Elementals — were acquired by Comico: The Comic Company, which rebooted the Justice Machine's continuity. First Comico published four issues of ''Justice Machine Featuring The Elementals'', with Gustovich providing the art and Willingham the scripts. Comico subsequently published an ongoing ''Justice Machine'' series (vol. 2) that lasted 29 issues plus a 1989 annual.

Tony Isabella Jenny Blake Isabella (born December 22, 1951), who writes under the names Tony Isabella and Jenny Blake, is an Americans, American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic. She is the creator of Marvel Comics superhero Bill Foster (com ...

was the first writer for this series; Gustovich co-plotted and penciled the vast majority of issues, and provided inks for the issues he didn't draw. The ongoing book became one of Comico's best-selling series, selling upwards of 70,000 copies of each issue at its peak. From 1989 to 1990,

Innovation Publishing Innovation Publishing (also known as Innovation Books and the Innovative Corporation) was an American comic book company based in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was co-founded by David Campiti in 1988 after writing a business proposal and raising ...

published a three-issue limited series, ''The New Justice Machine'', by Mark Ellis with pencils by

Darryl Banks Darryl Banks is an American comic book artist. He worked on one of the first painted comic books, ''Cyberpunk'', and teamed with the writer Mark Ellis (American author), Mark Ellis to revamp the long-running ''Justice Machine, The Justice Machi ...

and others, and inks by Gustovich. (Innovation also published a few new issues of Gustovich's ''Cobalt Blue'' title.) In 1990, Innovation launched ''Justice Machine'' vol. 3, which ran seven issues, as well as a one-shot, with Gustovich serving as inker on all the books. ''Justice Machine'' vol. 3 was originally produced by Ellis and Banks, but Gustovich came on as both penciler and inker for issues #4-6, with Isabella rejoining as writer for the final three issues. In 1989, Innovation also published a trade paperback of Gustovich's ''Cobalt Blue'', done in collaboration with

Keith Pollard Keith Pollard (; born January 20, 1950) is an American comic book artist. Originally from the Detroit area, Pollard is best known for his simultaneous work on the Marvel Comics titles ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', ''Fantastic Four'', and ''Thor'' ...

. Those last few issues of ''Justice Machine'' turned out to be Gustovich's final work on his creation, as he embarked on a full-time career as an

inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. After the penciller creates a drawing with pencil, the inker interprets this drawing by outlining and embellishing ...

-for-hire, working for dozens of series put out by all the major publishers. For instance, Gustovich inked most of the 1990s

Milestone Media Milestone Media Company LLC is the media company which created the Milestone Comics line, which were published and distributed by DC Comics. Milestone Media created the source material that was adapted as the '' Static Shock'' animated series. T ...

series ''

Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

'' (written by

Dwayne McDuffie Dwayne Glenn McDuffie (February 20, 1962February 21, 2011) was an American writer of comic books and television. He co-founded the pioneering minority-owned-and-operated comic book company Milestone Media, which focused on underrepresented minori ...

and penciled by

M.D. Bright Mark D. Bright (December 27, 1955 – March 27, 2024) was an American comic book and storyboard artist. Sometimes credited as Doc Bright (a play on his initials), he was best known for pencilling the Marvel Comics Iron Man story "Armor Wars", th ...

). He retired from the comics industry in the late 1990s, later teaching at the Virginia Marti College of Art and Design (now known as North Coast College) in

Lakewood, Ohio Lakewood is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Established in 1889, it is one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs and part of the Greater Cleveland, Cleveland metropolitan area. The popula ...

References

1953 births American comics artists American comics writers American publishers (people) Comic book publishers (people) Artists from Ohio Living people People from Warren, Ohio {{US-comics-creator-stub