Mike Dringenberg (born ) 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 ...

best known for his work on

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 ...

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

's ''

Sandman The Sandman is a mythical character originating in Germanic and Scandinavian folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. Representation in traditional folklore The San ...

'' series with writer

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

Early life

Mike Dringenberg was born in

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The Ancient Diocese of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held s ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and raised in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

before moving to the United States with his family in the late 1960s. Initially living in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, his father's career eventually took the family to Utah, where Mike attended high school. He later studied illustration and graphic design at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

from 1983 to 1987, where he began illustrating comics and working professionally even before graduating. During a break between his freshman and sophomore years, he briefly worked as an animation assistant at

Sullivan Bluth Studios Don Bluth Entertainment (formerly Sullivan Bluth Studios) was an Irish-American animation studio established in 1979 by animator Don Bluth. Bluth and several colleagues, all of whom were former Disney animators, left Disney on September 13, 1979, ...

, where he was probably best remembered for using up all the copier toner to make reading copies of his Cerebus collection.

Career

Dringenberg's first work in the comics industry was the story "A Tale Of... Lenny's Casino & Grill" in ''Kelvin Mace'' #1 (Dec. 1985) published by

Vortex Comics Vortex Comics is a Canadian independent comic book publisher that began operation in 1982. Under the supervision of president, publisher, and editor Bill Marks, Vortex was known for such titles as Dean Motter's '' Mister X'', Howard Chaykin's '' B ...

. His other early work in the 1980s for publishers such as

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 ...

included '' Alien Worlds'', ''Enchanter'', and ''

Total Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

''. He worked on '' Adolescent Radioactive Blackbelt Hamsters'', a parody of ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...

'', which itself was a parody of many then-current comic books, and ''Shock the Monkey''. His mainstream work includes DC's ''

Doom Patrol Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appear ...

'' with writer

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, Humanism, humanist philosophy and counterculture, countercultural leanings. Morrison has writt ...

, where he co-created Flex Mentallo; the fantasy card game '' Magic: The Gathering''; and White Wolf Publishing's card game '' Vampire: The Eternal Struggle''. Dringenberg came to prominence for his work on '' The Sandman'', where he started as the series'

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 ...

over pencil art by

Sam Kieth Sam Kieth (born January 11, 1963) is an American comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of ''The Maxx'' and '' Zero Girl''. Career Comics Kieth's first published work was "a story in the back of a Comico comic" when he was "about ...

but switched to pencilling when Kieth left after the fifth issue. He drew eleven issues, all but one inked by Malcolm Jones III, and his understated, realistic style did much to establish the tone of the series. He co-created the popular character

Death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

, whom he based on his then muse, Cinamon Hadley, whom he knew from the dance clubs in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, Utah. Gaiman had imagined her looking like

Louise Brooks Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an cultural icon, icon of the flapper culture, in part due to the bob cut, bob hairstyle that she helped ...

Nico Christa Päffgen (; 16 October 1938 – 18 July 1988), known by her stage name Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, actress, and model. Nico had roles in several films, including Federico Fellini's '' La Dolce Vita'' (1960) and Andy Warhol's ...

, but ultimately preferred Dringenberg's version. Dringenberg stated in a 2014 interview that "None of the characters are direct renderings of individual people; they're composites emerging from my memories; case in point, while my friend Cinamon was a primary visual inspiration for Death, she never actually posed for me as the character while I worked on the series. Most of the time, my girlfriend Givette and my friends McAnn and Nyssa actually posed and they each brought their own personalities to the task." He also co-created

Delirium Delirium (formerly acute confusional state, an ambiguous term that is now discouraged) is a specific state of acute confusion attributable to the direct physiological consequence of a medical condition, effects of a psychoactive substance, or ...

, Despair, and

Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of affa ...

, basing their androgynous appearance on the work of Patrick Nagel, and had a hand in much of the character design apparent in the early series. Dringenberg's work appears in the ''Sandman'' collections " Preludes and Nocturnes", " The Doll's House" and "

Season of Mists ''Season of Mists'' is a 1990–1991 American eight-part comic and the fourth collection of issues in the DC Comics' '' The Sandman'' series. It collects issues #21–28. It was written by Neil Gaiman; illustrated by Kelley Jones, Mike Dringe ...

". He is credited in every printing as being one of the series' creators, as he is responsible for the iconic representation of many of the principal characters. In 2008, he was one of the artists for

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

' '' Comic Book Tattoo''

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

. Dringenberg is an illustrator of book jackets and CD covers, most notably for various books by

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

Kij Johnson Kij Johnson (; born Katherine Irenae Johnson January 20, 1960 in Harlan, Iowa) is an American writer of fantasy. She is a faculty member at the University of Kansas. Life and career Kij Johnson was born in Harlan, Iowa. She received her BA ...

Charles de Lint Charles de Lint (born December 22, 1951) is a Canadian writer. Primarily a writer of fantasy fiction, he has composed works of urban fantasy, contemporary magical realism, and mythic fiction. Along with authors like Terri Windling, Emma Bull ...

Kage Baker Kage Baker (June 10, 1952 – January 31, 2010Obituary: Kage Baker
", SF Site, Januar ...

. He drew interior illustrations and chapter decorations for

Sharyn November Sharyn November is an American writer and an editor of books for children and teenagers. Until March 2016 she was Senior Editor for Viking Children's Books and Editorial Director of Firebird Books, which is a mainly paperback (reprint) imprint ...

's ''Firebirds Soaring'' (2009). Mike has illustrated several album and CD covers for San Francisco's Big City Orchestra. He has also contributed artwork for a number of Magic: The Gathering cards, from 1996's ''Mirage'' to 2008's ''Eventide''.

Personal life

Dringenberg lived in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

for many years before moving to the greater

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

area, where he currently resides.

Bibliography

Acclaim Comics

* '' Arabian Nights on the World of Magic: The Gathering'' #1–2 (covers only) (1995–1996) * '' Homelands on the World of Magic: The Gathering'' #1 (text story) (1996)

Dark Horse Comics

* ''

Dark Horse Presents ''Dark Horse Presents'' was a comic book published by Dark Horse Comics from 1986 in comics, 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 in comics, 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was publishe ...

'' #85 (1994)

DC Comics

* ''

'' vol. 2 #42 (1991) * '' The Sandman'' #1–4 (inker); #6–11, 14–16, 21, 28 (penciller) (1989–1991) * ''

Who's Who in the DC Universe ''Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe'' (1985–87), usually referred to simply as ''Who's Who'', is the umbrella title for a number of comic book series which DC Comics published to catalogue the wide variety of fictional ch ...

'' #5 (

Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensation (psychology), sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around ...

illustration), #8 (

illustration), #15 (

The Dreaming The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal mythology. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by hi ...

and Endless illustrations) (1990–1992)

Eclipse Comics

* '' Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters'' #3 (inker); #5 (cover only); #9 (one page only) (1986–1988) * '' Alien Worlds'' vol. 2 #1 (1988) * ''Clint'' #1–2 (1986–1987) * ''

'' #1 ( Prowler backup story) (1988)

Entity-Parody

* ''Enchanter: Prelude to Apocalypse'' #1–3 (1993)

IDW Publishing

* ''Hero Comics'' #1 (2011)

Image Comics

* '' Comic Book Tattoo'' #1 (2008) * ''

Spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...

'' #34 (one page Violator illustration) (1995)

Marvel Comics

* '' Daredevil'' #339–340, 342–343 (covers only) (1995) * ''

Doctor Strange Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as ...

, Sorcerer Supreme'' #81 (one page only) (1995) * ''Shadows & Light'' #3 (one page only) (1998) * ''

Strange Tales ''Strange Tales'' is a Marvel Comics comics anthology, anthology series. The title was revived in different forms on multiple occasions. Doctor Strange and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (feature), Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. made their d ...

: Dark Corners'' #1 (1998) * '' X-Universe'' #2 (two pages only) (1995)

Vortex Comics

* ''Kelvin Mace'' #1 (1985)

References

External links

*
Mike Dringenberg
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators {{DEFAULTSORT:Dringenberg, Mike 1960s births 20th-century American artists 21st-century American artists American album-cover and concert-poster artists American comics artists Artists from Utah Comics inkers DC Comics people French emigrants to the United States American game artists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)