Michael Davis (born April 29, 1958) is an American

comics artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the literar ...

, writer, and one of the co-founders of

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 ...

Career

Davis entered the comics industry in the late 1980s through authoring an advice column for the ''

Comic Buyer's Guide ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG''; ), established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1983 to circa 2010. The publi ...

''. Around this time he also founded Bad Boy Studios to mentor younger creators. In 1989, he collaborated as an artist with Tim Conrad on the series ''Etc.'' for

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 ...

Piranha Press Piranha Press, an imprint of DC Comics from 1989 to 1994, was a response by DC to the growing interest in alternative comics. The imprint was edited by Mark Nevelow, who instead of developing comics with the established names in the alternative c ...

. In 1992, Davis co-founded

, a company focused on creating black superheroes, founding it alongside

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 ...

Denys Cowan Denys Cowan (; born January 30, 1961) is an American comics artist, television producer, media executive and one of the co-founders of Milestone Media. Early life Denys Cowan was first inspired by superheroes as a child from reruns of the 1950s T ...

, and Derek T. Dingle. Davis contributed to the creation of characters including Hardware,

Static Shock ''Static Shock'' is an American superhero animated television series based on the Milestone Media/DC Comics superhero Static. It premiered on September 23, 2000, on the WB Television Network's Kids' WB programming block. ''Static Shock'' ran ...

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 ...

, and the

Blood Syndicate The Blood Syndicate is a multicultural vigilante gang of superhumans created by Milestone Comics and published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''Blood Syndicate'' #1 (April 1993), and was created by Dwayne McDuffie, Ivan Velez Jr. and ...

, but focused more on the business side of the venture, with Dingle. After leaving Milestone in 1994, he launched Motown Machine Works, where he was joined by Cowan. He served as president/CEO of Motown Animation & Filmworks but left in 1996. He was also President of Animation for

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...

Entertainment. In 2006 he created ''The Guardian Line'' comic for

Urban Ministries Urban Ministries, Inc. (UMI) is an independent, African American-owned and operated Christian media company founded in 1970. UMI is based in Chicago and publishes Christian resources, including Sunday School and Vacation Bible School curricula, boo ...

. He has written regular columns for the website ComicMix and "From the Edge" for Bleeding Cool. Davis was inducted into The Harvey Awards Hall Of Fame.

The Black Panel

Michael Davis started the Black Panel at

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

in 1997. The Black Panel is a mix of Black and often non-Black entertainment industry movers, shakers, and newcomers. Comics are an essential part but far from being the only component of the panel. Black content from all areas of the entertainment arena is fair game in the dialogue. Black culture is youth culture in America, and the Black Panel attempts to bring insight, information, and access to its vast, diverse audience.

References

African-American comics artists African-American comics writers American comics artists American comics writers American advice columnists American columnists Inkpot Award winners Living people 1958 births 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people {{US-comics-creator-stub